Beautiful Crime
by B.Lehnsherr
Summary: Erik stumbles into a flower shop, wanting to buy his wife a bouquet after they had a fight. The owner of the store is one Charles Xavier and they find themselves drifting towards each other and ignoring their families in favour of their feelings. *sad ending*
1. Chapter 1

**Erik**

Erik woke up in the break of dawn and groaned as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake his wife up. It was a rather cold day, and he had to muster up his courage to yank the blankets off of him.

His body was already used to the routine of getting up at such time every day, which meant he didn't need an alarm clock anymore. It allowed Magda to sleep in a little longer, until she had to get up and prepare their daughter Nina, to go to primary school.

He lifted himself up from bed, cracking his joints as he stretched his body on the tip of his toes. Opening his wardrobe, he grabbed his dull grey jumpsuit and went to take a quick shower.

Coming out from the steamy bathroom, he had skipped shaving and gotten dressed up. His hair was still a little wet, some droplets of water falling inside his clothes and making him shiver from the cold.

Erik made himself coffee, trying to warm up, and left some for his wife before putting his black shoes on and brushing his teeth.

He made his way towards Nina's bedroom to check up on her. Only a bundle of hazelnut hair was visible, coming from beneath the covers. It made him smile softly, and wish he could come home earlier to spend more time playing with her.

When he went back to his room to pick his yellow helmet, Magda was just sitting up in bed, her hair a mess from the pillows, a yawn forming on her lips.

"Good morning", he said to her and she opened her eyes lazily before answering "Morning", and getting up from the bed. She walked over to him and pecked Erik on the cheek before closing herself in the bathroom.

Back in the day, when they had just gotten married, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Erik had never been too fervent as a lover. Never driven by passion and complete despair to be close to the other person but he knew about desire, and they had it back then.

Now, after eight years of marriage, he could safely say they had fallen in a routine, being too used to each other and taking the other's presence granted. A heated makeout session in the morning, had turned to a peck on the cheek, because they simply didn't have the time anymore.

He shook his head, chasing those thoughts away and checked the time on his cellphone. He still had a few minutes to spare before having to leave for the factory where he would have to operate machines for the rest of the day, the same thing he had done for the last six years.

His work wasn't something he loved, but he also didn't hate it. It had come from a need to provide for his newborn daughter, and it brought home good money so he had been thankful for it, and done his very best every single day, earning himself respect from his coworkers and trust from the people above him, who would give Erik some privileges now and then.

He waited patiently for his wife to come out of the bathroom, and when she did, he looked at her with a somehow weird expression on his face. Erik wasn't the warmest person on the world, and he wasn't one to talk about feelings or making romantic gestures. How Magda had married him, it was something he could never answer.

"What do you have planned for today?", he asked because one of them had to.

It was now an habit, for one of them to come up with things to talk about and try to keep their marriage together through shallow conversations.

 **Magda**

"I'm having my yoga classes after I bring Nina over to Janine. Gonna pick her up from school today", Magda answered and went to the wardrobe to get some fresh clothes. There was no time for showering anymore, but that was alright - she'd just shower before yoga classes.

"Are you gonna meet Francesca afterwards?", she heard her husband ask as she pulled her shirt over her head. She was turned away from Erik, as if ashamed to strip in front of him.

"Not sure yet. Will you pick Nina from her friend up after work? Then I will go", Magda answered and got rid of her other clothes.

For a moment, she found herself desiring to feel Erik's hands on her naked body, caressing her skin and calling her beautiful again - just like he had been doing so often back in the days.

But when Erik answered her, his voice was still coming from the same distance and she hurried to put on her daily clothes.

"I'm gonna wake Nina then before I go", she heard him saying just as she turned around to face her husband again.

He still looked the same as all those years ago - a bit more of his beard, but that was it. But Magda knew that the work at the factory had changed him. The skin on his fingers was rougher and made her shiver, when he touched her. He got small wrinkles around his eyes and his arms had grown stronger with the years. Erik was still so stunning, it sometimes stole her breath when she looked at him.

"Alright. Have fun", she answered and got closer, tugging at Erik's clothes a little and going on her tiptoes to place a small peck on his mouth. "Love you."

"Love you too", Erik answered and they parted again, before he walked into Nina's room.

Magda sighed and went into the kitchen, only noticing the coffee Erik had left her halfway through brewing her own one.

Erik might have still looked the same, but he wasn't the man she married all those years ago anymore. He was cold and closed off most of the time. Only on good days, Magda would recognize her husband underneath the stone figure that was his body. He would crack a joke then or hold her hand, making her feel loved.

Those days were rare.

"I'm going now. Goodbye", she heard him shout through the house and no two minutes later, an energy ball in form of their daughter jumped into the kitchen. Magda only heard the click of the door falling into its frame, signalising that Erik left, before Nina demanded food.

 **Erik**

Erik made his way to the closest bus stop and waited until the right one had arrived. They owned an old car, but he liked Magda to use it so she could drive Nina around, and go to her appointments without having to worry about anything else.

He got inside the public transport and found somewhere to sit - which wasn't a normal occurrence.

The bus quickly started to fill up, until in one stop an old woman came in, and there was no place for her. Erik quickly scrambled to his feet and offered her to take his sit. She had a sweet smile and called him a gentleman, before sitting down.

It was a forty minutes ride to get to the factory that was divided between two buses, and when Erik got to his destination he was always already a little worn out.

This day was no different, but he put on the same facade he used every time and walked inside the right establishment. The whole place was a huge industrial site, with a bunch of different buildings that had each its own purpose.

Erik's was particularly the most boring one, where they would make concrete the whole freaking day. It was his job to pull and push heavy machines around, and supervise if the others were doing things right - which always ended in him having to do it himself.

Each day he went back home with sore muscles and headaches, and that was one of the main reasons he and Magda had grown a little apart. It was his fault, really, but he wanted to get home and lay down, when she wanted to talk or ask him to do some chores. Marriages were difficult, but he loved his wife, so he stuck around and tried to the best of his abilities to not let it all fall apart.

Hours later, he found himself walking once again to the bus stop alone. He had just enough time to go home and take yet another shower, before walking to Janine's place where he would pick Nina up. The walk wasn't a long one, and he honestly didn't mind a little physical activity. His daughter did though, which was why he always ended up carrying her and listening to her adorable chatter. Erik smiled warmingly, excited to go and pick her up already.

After his shower he got dressed up on dark jeans, a grey converse, his favorite red plaid shirt and a black jacket before he left his house, frictioning his hands together to fight the cold.

He ringed the doorbell and was greeted politely by... he honestly couldn't remember the man's name, before his daughter came running towards him, tackling his legs.

"Daddy!", she exclaimed and Erik bent down to pick her up, with a sunny smile on his face. Not everyone saw that smile, but she deserved it the most.

"How was your day, cupcake?", he asked and she giggled at the silly nickname. "It was great! I had lots of fun" - "Good. Did you say goodbye to your friend and thanked her parents?", he asked and she nodded.

"Great, let's go home then", he placed her on the ground so she could walk the first half, and they held hands while Nina told him all about her day; what she had done at school and her friend's house. Erik listened closely and commented on every little bit he could, making his little princess smile.

Once they got to their home, he started cooking dinner, - one of his chores when Magda was out - asking for Nina's assistance in picking up the right condiments and throwing pinches of salt on their soup. He loved his moments with his daughter because they always reminded him of how good it was to have a family, and what the whole purpose of his life was.

When Magda came back home, he was just setting the table, and in one of his good moods.

 **Magda**

Yoga had been relaxing and the coffee with Francesca afterwards was pleasant. Magda talked about everything with her best friend, getting the same information from her back. She was the only person, Magda could talk free about her marriage and all the problems with Erik. Francesca always reassured her that marriages get like that and they should have more fun in bed to spice things up. Well, easier said than done. She'd had to get her husband into bed first.

It was only once - a very long night full of margaritas - that Francesca had told her to leave Erik. But she couldn't do that. She still loved her husband, not even talking about Nina. It was alright though, couples always went through phases like this and, somehow, Erik and her would sort it out eventually.

When she came back, the smell of dinner filled her nose, so she quickly put her shoes and jacket off before going into the living room.

"I'm home", she smiled and saw Erik setting the table. Nina jumped up on her, until she carried her on her arms and kissed her cheek.

"Mama! I cooked dinner with papa", her daughter beamed at her and looked at Erik then. He just turned around and walked towards them, a smile on his lips.

He leaned in and pecked Magda's lips, before taking Nina out of her hands.

"That's right. But let's wash our hands first, before we eat dinner, alright?", he said, walking into the kitchen.

Dinner was normal. They all talked about their days, Nina mostly asking them lots of questions about phrases or words she didn't understand. Erik usually explained them in a calm voice, while Magda watched her husband interacting with their daughter.

After dinner, it was time to shower for Nina and Magda helped her with that, before Erik took her and went on with the daily routine of getting her to bed. Magda watched them, leaning against the frame of the door, as Erik sang a gentle lullaby to Nina.

She had noticed that Erik was in a good mood and made plans to act on it later.

It took Nina ten minutes to fall asleep and they closed the door behind themselves, when they left the room.

"Do you want to watch some TV in bed?", Magda suggested to which Erik agreed.

They settled into bed after changing into more comfortable clothes and turned on the TV. It was a small one, so they usually preferred to watch in the living room, but Magda had plans. When the news where over and a cheap movie started playing, she got closer to her husband and started kissing his jawline. Her hand caressed his chest and wandering underneath the hem of his shirt afterwards.

"Haven't had time for ourselves in ages, have we?", she asked, her tone aiming to seduce.

 **Erik**

Erik closed his eyes and let the sensations run over his body, the words leaving Magda's mouth making the desire flame inside him.

They indeed hadn't had much time for each other in a long time, and he would be lying if he said he didn't miss having sex.

He turned his head to catch her lips in a kiss and soon found himself lying on top of her, their bodies pressed together as they kissed.

It was more straight to the point when compared to how they did it before, but it was still good. They both knew each other perfectly, aiming on the spots that were right to rip some moans out of their throats.

Erik wasn't talkative in bed, which was why after a while Magda had given up on dirty talking, and only the sounds of their ragged breaths, muffled moans and bodies slapping against each other filled the room as they had sex.

On the aftermath, Magda was curled on his side, her head resting on Erik's shoulder and sleeping soundly with a little smile on her lips.

Erik felt happy for their small connection there, it made him hopeful that things would go back on track anytime now. He didn't want to give his marriage up.

But he missed making love. Not just the sex they had just had. He missed worshipping someone's body and being looked at like he was more than desired.

And he also missed fucking. The raw, almost angry feeling of thrusting into someone and gripping it's hips forcefully, leaving the marks of his fingers there. Of course he hadn't done that one in years now. Magda wasn't fond of being marked or the rough stuff. In fact, Erik had only gotten that with other men.

He sighed and closed his eyes wanting to sleep and not dwell on those kind of thoughts. Magda and he would find their ways back to each other soon and he knew that, - they genuinely loved each other.

On the course of the next days, Erik's good humour didn't stick. They had a complication at work, which made them throw away tons of concrete and start all over again, getting behind on schedule and losing a lot of money.

It hadn't been Erik's fault, but he worked to fix it like it was, which meant that he went back home feeling like shit.

Magda started nagging at him about being late for dinner for a few nights, and also asking him to shave his beard off, - she didn't like the scraping feeling it gave her when they kissed, and much less the beard burns that lingered afterwards - but Erik was even too tired to shave.

He used all his free time when he got home to be with Nina before it was time for her to sleep, and then he would sink as deep as he could on his mattress and try to get some rest before he had to do it all over again.

The flicker of hope he had seen the other day when he and Magda were close again, was starting to fade away and he did promise himself to try and get it back as soon as he didn't feel so beaten.

She laid next to him in silence and Erik felt bad not for the first time. He reached over and held her hand.

'I'm so tired', he said. His eyes were closed and he heard the sound of the sheet ruffling as she moved.

'I know', came the understanding answer and Erik squeezed her hand.

He didn't know how to use his words, but Magda always found a way to get what he meant. He had told her he was tired, and hoped she understood the words hidden behind it; ' _Don't give up on us yet'._

 **Charles**

"Moira? Can you please look after Hannah? She's been crying for 3 minutes now", Charles shouted through the house, exaggerating with the time of their younger child crying. It honestly felt like three minutes.

He was drowning in work, sitting in his small office at home. Running a flower shop on his own had been a great idea, it really had been - but having to do all the financial things for his shop until very late in the night, he never liked. It always needed to be done at the end of the month, so he was sitting here now - the damped light of his desk lamp illuminating tons of papers with billions of numbers on them.

Moira knew not to disturb him, when he was in his office, they had their fare share of fights about it. She must have already put David to bed and Charles didn't get, why she would let Hannah cry for so long?

With a frustrated sigh, after pinching his nose several time, he got up and walked out of his office to look for their three-year-old. Hannah was lying in her bed, crying and screaming and sobbing.

"Hey, hey shhh. What's wrong baby girl?", he asked and picked her up. That's when he felt it, the warm wetness soaking Hannah's pants and now also his shirt.

"Jesus!", he said, not even trying to hold her away from his body anymore. Hannah was still sobbing in his arm, but the realisation that one of her parents came for help, made her calm down immediately.

Charles heard the shower turning off and quickly walked over to the drawer with Hannah's clothes in it, grabbing a new pair of underwear and pants.

"Is wet, daddy", his daughter hiccuped and her tiny fists grabbed his shirt by the collar.

"I know, baby girl. We're just waiting for mummy to go out of the bathroom, okay?", he asked and as if that was the cue for Moira, she opened the door and looked at them confused. The bathroom was right across from Hannah's room and she normally made it to the toilet in time now, but if the circumstances weren't right - like Moira showering when she needed to pee - she was still not being able to hold on for long.

"Did she?" - "Yeah", Charles answered and went into the bathroom to sit Hannah on the counter. He quickly removed her pants and took a washing cloth to wet it and clean her up.

"That's alright, Princess. You're gonna be dry and clean in no time", he talked to her while drying her up with a towel. The tears had stopped for now and Charles wanted to dress her up again, but Hannah grabbed her clothes.

"I want!", she said determined and Charles lifted her from the counter, so she could dress herself again.

When she was done, he let her walk to Moira who was standing in the doorframe and watched them.

Then he went to have a quick shower, before walking out of the room with just a towel around his hips, not having any clothes to change into in the bathroom.

He found Moira in their bedroom.

 **Moira**

Moira smiled when her husband walked inside their room wearing nothing but a towel. Her breath caught in her throat and she unconsciously licked her lips.

'Come to bed, baby', she said, her voice sounding honey-like, as she let one strap of her top fall from her shoulder and looked at him through her eyelashes.

Charles looked at her with an apologetic expression and said 'I can't, I need to finish the finances' walking towards their wardrobe and putting sweatpants.

Moira sighed and laid down in bed. Charles was a hard, methodic worker who barely postponed any of his tasks, which was something she always loved and admired about him.

She laid down on her side and watched him dry his hair with the white towel, her mouth watering in the process.

'At least kiss your wife goodnight then', she said understanding and won a dashing smile.

'Of course', Charles said warmly and walked over to bed, crouching down next to Moira, and pecking her sweetly on the lips. When she opened her eyes, Charles' blue ones pierced through her soul, like they always did, and she pulled him for another kiss, deepening it this time.

'I can't tonight, sweetie', he said getting up from the floor and caressing her hair making her roll her eyes.

After Charles left she fell asleep quickly, being worn out from their two children.

Since she had to take David to primary school and drop Hannah at the daycare, Moira woke up early, and to her surprise, alone.

Before starting her daily bathroom routine or cooking breakfast, she went straight to Charles' office, ready to scold him if he had spent the night awake working, but she found him with his head fallen on top of a paper pile, soundly asleep.

'Baby?', she called getting closer and messing his hair with her hand.

He jerked awake and looked around confused for a second, before rubbing his eyes.

'You fell asleep. C'mon, go take a shower while I make you some coffee', she said kissing his cheek and helping him to his feet.

'Thanks. And I'm sorry I fell asleep over here, sweetie', he said honestly, making Moira smile and nod before leaving the office she rarely entered.

 **Charles**

Charles walked into the bathroom, scratching his beard. He felt tired and drained, his bones aching from the uncomfortable position overnight. Stepping into the shower, he put it hotter than usual, wanting to relax his muscles a bit, before he had to go to the flower shop and stand almost the whole day.

When he stepped out of the shower, his wet hair was dripping on his shoulders, but he dried his body first, wrapping it around his head afterwards. He looked into the mirror and saw dark circles underneath his eyes, as he brushed his teeth. His beard needed a bit of trimming too, but he didn't have time for that now.

In the kitchen, David was already eating his cereals, babbling about his new soccer friend. Moira was just putting Hannah into her chair, when Charles entered the room.

"Good morning", he said, walking towards the coffee machine to get him some useful energy for the day. Moira came closer and kissed his cheek.

"Your hair is still wet", she commented, reaching over him to get a mug for Hannah.

"Don't have time for that", he answered, taking a sip of his coffee and kissing David on his head, getting a "why dad?" out of his son. He chuckled a little at that.  
"Can you drive David to school? I have a meeting early", his wife asked and Charles looked at the watch around his wrist to check the time.

"Okay, David hurry up then. I need to open in half an hour", he said and his son jumped off the chair to run into his room.

Charles decided it was too cold to just walk around in jeans and a grey shirt, so he got a cardigan from the bedroom, before he put on his shoes. He put a sandwich, Moira had made him, into his little bag and called for his son, needing to leave now.

David came running towards him, with his little school bag, exclaiming that he was ready. Moira walked up to them, giving Charles a lingering kiss on his lips, while messing up David's hair.  
"See you later", she smiled and Charles nodded.

When they arrived at David's school, Charles got out of the car and went to the trunk, getting his son's school bag. He put it on David's shoulders, when somebody almost ran into him from behind.

"Whoa, watch out there, pal!", Charles called loudly after the slightly taller man with a little girl on his left hand. He turned around briefly and made an apologising gesture, but Charles was already turning back to his son.

"Your aunt will pick you up after school, so don't go with anybody else except for her, okay?" - "Yes, dad." - "Have fun, I love you." Charles smiled and messed David's hair up a little more, before he let his son walk into the large building.

Then he went back into the car and drove to work, opening the shop ten minutes late, but thinking that his son was worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Erik**

Erik had dropped Nina off at the primary school and now was running a little late for work. His boss probably wouldn't yell at him though, seeing Erik was never late.

Work dragged along, the tiredness taking over his body along with all the soreness.

His colleagues invited him for some beer after their shift was over, but he politely declined not wanting to do anything else apart from going home and sleep for a week.

The next day was luckily his day off, but he still had to get up early and drive Nina to school, as Magda enjoyed a small window of time for herself.

He got home and was greeted by his little girl running towards him, a doll in her hand.

'Daddy! I missed you', she said while being picked up and started pressing small pecks all over Erik's face.

'I missed you too, princess', he answered and spun them around, making her giggle.

'What are you doing?' - 'I'm playing with my doll! Will you play with me?', she asked sweetly and he nodded eager to spend more time with her.

He walked towards the kitchen, Nina still safely tucked on his arms, and kissed Magda on the temple.

'How was your day?', he asked, but she shot him a look that said it wasn't a very good one.

Erik nodded and excused himself to go to his daughter's room. They both played with the dolls a little, until she got tired and said 'Daddy, can we play with something else?' - 'Sure, what do you want to do?' - 'Let's pretend this is a beauty parlor!', she answered and scrambled to her feet to grab her children makeup and hair brushes.

Nina placed them all carefully on the bed and beamed at Erik, who promptly picked a brush and started working on her hair.

He made a braid that looked incredibly crooked, but she smiled when she looked at herself in the mirror and squeaked a 'thank you, daddy!', right before announcing it was her turn.

Erik was ashamed to say she didn't have to insist much to convince him to let her put makeup on his face. He sighed resigned, knowing every father went through that at some point, and stood still as Nina gently poked his eyes with blue eyeshadow.

When she was done, Erik looked at the mirror and had to hold back a laugh at how ridiculous he looked, and told her she had done an incredible work to make him look pretty.

'You always look pretty', she had said hugging his neck tight.

After that, Magda called them for dinner and he had already gotten the makeup out when he made his way to the kitchen with his daughter.

The mood was a tiny bit uncomfortable because Magda wasn't looking happy today, and Nina couldn't understand why her mommy wasn't paying much attention to her.

Erik proceeded to shower and get Nina ready for bed after eating, but his little girl wasn't feeling tired and asked sweetly 'Can we play more?' to which Erik had no choice but to say 'Of course'.

An hour later, it was past bedtime and she was still electric. Magda came to the room with a serious expression and said 'Nina, go to bed'.

Their daughter shook her head and said 'Don't want to', but Magda crossed her arms 'You don't have an option here'.

Nina promptly looked at Erik with sad eyes and a pout before saying in a very small tone 'I just wanna play with my daddy', and Erik melted inside.

'Of course, my love. We can play a little more', and looked at Magda wearily. Her expression told him he would hear about this and his wife left the room, going to their own and slamming the door shut.

 **Magda**

The moment Erik shut the door to their bedroom, Nina hopefully already lulled into sleep, Magda stood up and put her hands on her hips. She looked sternly at her husband, as he carefully approached her, opening his mouth to say something.  
"No. Don't even start. We're working on this together, Erik", she hissed, trying not to wake up their sleeping child next door.

"It was just ten-", Erik started and Magda knew where this was going, so she cut him off.

"Ten minutes? It's way past her bedtime and she has school tomorrow!" - "I thought we agreed on exceptions?" - "It's not about the damn exception, Erik!", she shouted, losing it for a moment.

She pinched her nose between middle finger and thumb, looking at the floor in front of her, while she tried to calm herself down.

"Look. I don't want to play the strict, not fun parent, so you can come along and melt at her pleading eyes", she said, still not really calm but at least quieter.

"You are not a bad parent, love" - "I am not. But you're making me look like one in the eyes of our daughter! God, Erik. What's up with you these days?", she asked and Erik sighed in frustration.

They both had this argument a lot these past few weeks, months, maybe even years. Every fight of them would end up with Magda asking what is wrong with Erik, wondering where her husband disappeared.

"Do you even love me anymore?", she asked, looking straight into Erik's eyes, searching for something in them. "Of course I do", came the answer promptly.

"Then you better start to fucking show it", she hissed, before she walked to her side of the bed and climbed into it, turning towards the wall as Erik approached his side.

They fell asleep without even an inch of their bodies touching, where they were joined so intensively just yesterday. Now it was cold around them, the air thick of unspoken suggestions - none of them not daring to talk about separating, but both thinking about it.

The next morning, Magda ignored her husband, hoping for at least one romantic gesture that day, but already starting to lose hope when he left for the bathroom without any form of apology.

 **Charles**

Charles walked into the flower shop on time today, not having to bring David to school. He sat down behind the counter and started looking into his calendar, to check if he had to make some special bouquets for today. Then he started working, setting up new flowers, going through his stock and putting some pretty flowers together, until the first customers started to walk into his shop.

 **Erik**

Erik had taken Nina to class as he always did on his day off, and was now driving around chewing on his bottom lip.

He felt bad for the fight with Magda the night before, and he felt even worse that she didn't feel loved anymore.

It was true that he wasn't warm towards her very often, and her words were stuck to his brain now, - _'Then you better start to fucking show it' -_ and as he drove back home and saw a small flower shop, he thought that maybe he should.

Romantic gestures didn't come easy for him, but when they did, it was on the spur of the moment. He was instantly struck by inspiration now and then, and today, he wanted to bring his wife flowers.

He parked the car across the street, and crossed in a light jog, before opening the door and hearing a bell playing over his head to announce his entrance.

'I'll be right there with you', came a british voice and Erik just nodded even though he couldn't see where the voice came from.

There were two other customers in there and he walked around, inspecting the flowers in awe. They were all absolutely beautiful, well kept and arranged in good taste.

It wasn't far from his house or Nina's school, and he could easily walk the distance to the shop, so he wondered how he had missed it before.

A few minutes later he still had no clue of what to buy, and a shorter man came walking towards him with a cheerful, charming smile.

'How can I help you?', he asked rubbing his hands together, and Erik took in the jaw-long hair and beard that needed a trim.

He looked up to the brightest pair of blue eyes he had ever seen, and was at a sudden loss of words. That was a gorgeous man.

'I uh, wanted to buy flowers for my wife', he said finally and the other man nodded.

'What kind?' - 'I have no clue. I know nothing about flowers' - 'Well, it depends on what you're aiming for. Romance? Seduction? A get-better-soon wish?'.

Erik cleared his throat before answering 'More like an apology' - 'Oh I see. Let's find you something then, Mr…?' - 'You can call me Erik', his last sentence made the other man smile widely and friendly 'I'm Charles', before he turned around and cocked his head so Erik would follow him.

 **Charles**

Charles walked around the shop, fully in his element of colors, shapes and meanings.

"Roses are always good to express the love for another person", he declared, showing Erik his selection of differently colored and shaped roses. Erik got closer and took a look at them, while Charles continued speaking.  
"As for the red roses, they are more aiming for seduction and romance, but are also connected to the heart of the other person's body. I would mix maybe three into the bouquet, not overdoing it in that department, if it's supposed to be an earnest apology."

Erik nodded, pointing and dark red roses and Charles got three out of the bucket.

"How big should the bouquet be?" - "Uh, I don't know." - "Well, how much money are you willing to spend?" Charles watched as Erik got his purse out and looked inside, silently calculating the money.

"Well, uh.." - "Have you fucked up royally or is it just a small thing?" - "I guess, it's, ah, not that bad." Charles laughed at that, the sound filling the small shop and causing Erik to look up at him. He wasn't embarrassed at that, he always had no filter for his mouth or actions.

"Tell you what, my friend. You'll go with a small bouquet, because if women nowadays seem to tend to love small presents more than being spoiled. If it's not enough, you can come back tomorrow and I'll make you a bigger one for free", he suggested and Erik nodded at that, smiling at him while showing all his teeth. It was kind of cute - his smile.

"So, how about some carnations to mix with the roses?", he then went on, shaking the thought about Erik's smile and walking towards the section of white and pink colored flowers.

"I like those. How about the purple ones there?", Erik said, pointing at violet carnations.

"Hmh, I'm afraid that wouldn't mix well with the color of the roses. But white, rosé or yellow ones should go", Charles answered and showed them to Erik, holding the roses in front of them.

"White it is then." Charles nodded and got eight white carnations out of the bucket.

"Okay, last thing I'd suggest are these", Charles then said, pointing at small white flowers. "They are called gypsophila."

Erik nodded approvingly and Charles took some of them out of the bucket, before walking back to the counter. He started sorting the flowers and rearranging them in a nice way, putting some green leaves between them.

"Do you want to write a card? It's just two bucks extra", he answered, pointing with his elbow at the small selection of flower cards on the counter. "I'm sure there are some apology cards on there. Or, of course, any form of romantic cards as well."

 **Erik**

'Uh, next time', Erik answered about the cards. The ones that came ready felt too impersonal, and he didn't have a clue of what to write on the blank ones.

Charles nodded and finished up the last touches on the bouquet before holding it up so that Erik could see his handy work.

'Very impressive', he said with a small smile, and Charles reciprocated it 'Thank you'.

Erik reached out for it and held it closer, the smell of the flowers filling his nose 'I'm sure she'll like it. How much?', he asked and Charles picked a calculator, adding some numbers and telling Erik the total.

It wasn't cheap, but Erik was sure that man should charge more for his flowers. He had a great eye for the thing, and his work was good.

He picked the money out of his purse, - having to place the bouquet on the counter to do it - and then handed the cash to Charles.

Their fingers brushed and they both looked up at the same time, smiling.

'I hope she forgives you', Charles said pulling his hand away and Erik found himself answering 'Me too', as he picked the flowers one more time.

There was a small moment between them where they just looked at each other, and Erik was impressed at how good of a florist Charles was, and how good he was at dealing with clients.

'You hm… Own the shop?', he asked without knowing why he was attempting a conversation, when it was obvious he was supposed to leave now.

'Yes, I do-', Charles answered and seemed like he was going to say more, but the bell rang as a new customer walked in.

'Thanks for the help', Erik said and Charles grinned 'Always happy to save marriages', before Erik turned around and left the small shop.

On the outside, the street didn't seem so stuffed as that place had felt, and his senses weren't overwhelmed by the sweet scent of flowers. He looked at the bouquet again and was excited to give it to his wife. Charles certainly looked like he knew what he was doing, and Erik was sure Magda would like the unexpected gift.

He drove home, and got there just a few minutes before she had to leave. Entering the house, he heard 'What took you so long? You know I need the car!', coming towards him and sounding annoyed.

He held the bouquet and Magda stopped on her tracks when she saw him.

'I'm sorry?', he said pathetically, stretching his arm 'I do love you, Magda'.

 **Magda**

Magda was startled by Erik's gesture, staring from the bouquet to her husband and back. A smile slowly began to raise on her lips and she started moving again, practically jumping into Erik's arms. She swung her own arms around his neck, laughing happily.  
"You are so sweet", she beamed, feeling her husband's hands coming around her back and the bouquet almost tangling with her hair. The masculine scent of the factory paired with sweat and Erik's cologne filled her nose and she breathed in deeply.

"I love you too", she whispered and turned her head to kiss Erik's cheek. Then she let got and looked at her husband again, happy that Erik did seem to care about their relationship.

"Thank you, honey", she smiled and looked at the flowers again. "They are beautiful."

 **Charles**

When Charles locked the shop for today, his gaze fell on the now almost empty bucket with red roses in it and he immediately wondered if the man from earlier - what was his name? Erik? - got his wife to forgive him. He surely did; Charles knew all about the wonders of flowers.

He walked back home, still thinking about Erik with his big smile and gentle eyes. Would he come back to Charles' flower shop? If his wife accepted his apology, then probably not in the near future.

Arriving at home was a shock. He was immediately greeted by screams and two weeping children. David ran towards him and grabbed a fistful of Charles' pants, looking up at him through blue, puffy eyes.

"What's going on here?", Charles asked and no second later, Moira came into the room looking exhausted and annoyed.

"I just had a little argument with David who didn't want to make his homework and destroyed one of Hannah's dolls." - "Why didn't you want to make your homework?", Charles asked with a stern voice, glaring at his son who immediately let go of his pants.

"Told you, you didn't want your father to find out about that", Moira said and tried to soothe Hannah afterwards. Charles kept looking at David who started crying again and just stood there, his arms hanging to his sides.

"Go to your room and do your homework now, David. I'll expect you to be done before dinner and if not, I'm gonna draw some serious consequences out of that. You can always ask us for help, but not doing your homework at all will _not_ be the way", he answered in a flat voice, making David runoff into his room.

They heard several sobs coming from behind the door, but both adults wisely decided against approaching their son now.

"We're gonna repair your doll, princess. Okay?", Charles then tried to calm Hannah down, taking her from Moira, so she could continue making dinner.

 **Moira**

Moira cooked dinner as quickly as she could, watching from the corner of her eyes Charles sitting on the table with Hannah on his lap, while he tried to fix her doll.

It seemed like a rather difficult task to do with a child on his lap, but Charles was surprisingly doing fine. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips watching her husband and younger daughter. It warmed her heart to have such a beautiful family.

She was a little worried about David's behaviour earlier, but she knew that things weren't always easy with 6-years-old, and it was to be expected that he would concentrate his anger towards his little sister's things, being jealous of her and all.

Moira sighed hoping that phase would go away soon and asked Charles to move from the table so she could set it with their food.

Minutes later, everything was ready and she made her way to David's room, knocking on the door softly before opening. He wasn't crying anymore, and was sitting on his desk, back arched downwards as he coloured something on his notebook.

"How is homework?", she asked and he turned around with puffy, red eyes "Almost done", the little boy answered and Moira got closer to check on it.

"Here, let me help you", she said gently running her fingers through his dark hair, before picking a pencil and colouring the last missing bit.

"Thank you, mama", he answered and she grinned. "Of course sweetie, let's have dinner now", she told him, and David got up from his chair, walking towards the table and sitting next to his father.

Moira also set herself on her place and started serving food for Hannah, as Charles served it for David. It was a rather good day, and she smiled at her husband, hoping tonight he wouldn't have to work and she would get the opportunity to show him just how much she appreciated their lives.

 **Erik**

Erik lay down in bed next to Magda, and she promptly scooted closer letting him wrap his arms around her warm body.

"Thank you for the flowers again", she said and he nuzzled her hair. It smelled like coconut, and it wasn't his favorite scent but it was familiar. It always reminded him of her.

"I'll try to surprise you more often, okay?", he asked and kissed the top of her head as she nodded.

They both stayed silent for a while just watching the news on the small television, until Magda turned around a little and said "I need you to pick Nina up in school this week, I wanna meet Francesca again" - "Again?" - "Yeah, she's my best friend" - "Okay, dear", he said knowing that she probably wanted to gossip to her friend about their marriage.

He knew Magda did that, and most women did too so it didn't bother him. At least this time she would have something nice to say about him.

"How about the day after tomorrow? I think I can get out earlier then" - "That's perfect, thank you" - "No problem. Have a goodnight", he told her with a yawn in the middle of the sentences.

"Good night, I love you", she said kissing his chest. "Love you too".

 **Charles**

That night, Charles came out of his office in time, so Moira walked closer to him as soon as he stepped into the bedroom. She put her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, connecting their lips in a sweet kiss that soon got deeper. They let their tongues tangle and landed on the bed, undressing each other quickly.

When they lay together, naked and covered in sweat, Moira turned towards Charles and put her hand on his chest. She'd always been a cuddler after sex, which was fine for Charles.

What totally wasn't fine with him, was her question after she kissed his chest once.

"How about another one?" - "What?" - "Another baby." Charles looked down at her to see if she had been serious, but she just looked at him with determined eyes.

"Are you insane?", he asked and could watch her face crumble in hurt. "No, I'm not. I come from a big family, Charles. I _want_ to have a big family."

"Two kids are more than enough. We can barely keep up with them and now you want _another_ one?", Charles asked, trying to sound calm.

"Well, yes. They'll both be soon in an age when we can handle them better. And then they'll grow old so fast, you can barely blink and we'll have grandchildren!" - "This is ridiculous, Moira. I don't want another child."

She seemed to not like that as a final answer and turned away from his touch, giving him the cold shoulder. Charles let out a frustrated sigh and turned to his side of the bed. That was it with the intimcity for today then.

The next day, Moira had already left the bed and went to work early when Charles woke up. She had left him a note to bring the kids to school and daycare, making him start angry into the day. She knew way too well that Charles barely had the time to drop off one child before work and now he had David and Hannah to take care of.

First he would go to David's school, knowing that it's closer and his son needed to be there on time. When he pulled up with his car and went to the trunk to get the school bag, his son approached him shyly and looked at him with big eyes.

"Mrs Hudson wants to speak to you before my class", he whispered and Charles raised an eyebrow. "What? Why?" - "I don't know. She just wanted to."

Charles sighed and went to get Hannah out of the car, before locking it and grabbed his son's hand.  
"Okay then, where to?", he asked and let his son guide him towards the visitors room.

 **Erik**

40 minutes and two buses later, Erik went inside the factory getting ready for a long, long day at work.

He walked towards his boss' office, wanting to talk to him before he got too engrossed with work and ended up forgetting in.

He knocked on the door and heard a faint 'Come in', before pushing it open and getting inside.

'Mr. Lehnsherr, what can I do for you?', he asked nicely, and Erik attempted to smile and relax. He was a good worker after all, and even he deserved a break.

'I need to leave work earlier tomorrow', he said straight to the point 'My daughter needs to be picked from school. Is that a problem?' - 'Not at all', his boss said and just like that the conversation was over.

Erik nodded and turned around to leave, but then his boss shouted 'Wait! I actually need you to work extra hours today'. He sighed and listened carefully to his task before actually managing to leave the stuffy office and closing the door behind him.

He worked silently all morning, not wanting to participate on his colleague's conversations about women and sports.

When lunchtime came, he picked his phone and called Magda to let her know he would be late again. He apologized to her, and promised to make it up when he got home. She said she would wait up and they turned off the call.

For a minute there, while he ate his food he thought about how at first Magda would show up once a week to have lunch with him. He couldn't possibly make the 40 minutes trip back and forth during his lunch break, so she would come over to him and they would eat together, laughing silly and making plans for the future.

Sitting there alone, he found himself missing all those little things that meant a lot.

When Erik was done eating, he had just enough time to take a quick nap and recharge his batteries for the rest of the day. Somehow, he dreamt about flowers and wondered if that was some sort of sign telling him he should get them for Magda again.

 **Charles**

Mrs Hudson had told him that he needed to come by after school for a longer talk about David. His son was drawing a lot of attention to him during class and the teacher wanted to discuss some things with him. She had invited Moira too, but Charles said that she would be at work. Charles was technically at work too, but he could easily take a break.

That's why he found himself at half past one in the school again, waiting for the teacher to approach him.

But no five minutes, a little girl walked up to him and tucked at his sleeve.

"Do you know where my papa is? He was supposed to pick me up", he asked in an innocent voice and Charles melted at her stare.

"Hmmh, maybe he's just running late? Why don't you wait here with me?", he smiled and she nodded, stretching her arms out.

Charles picked her up after one moment of hesitation and sat her on his lap.

"What's your name, sweety?", Charles asked her and put her hazel hair behind her ear.

"Nina. And you?", she asked with a smile, playing with the buttons of his shirt. He stopped himself from taking her hand away, already used to grabby fingers.

"That is a beautiful name", Charles smiled at her.

"Who are you waiting for?", Nina asked and Charles told her that he was waiting for his own son and his teacher.

They chatted for a little while, Nina telling him about her paintings, until he demanded to finally see them. She took them out of her bag and showed them proudly to Charles and he examined them.

"They are beautiful, Nina. Do you like animals?", he asked after seeing her drawings were mostly animals.

"Yes! But my papa doesn't allow me a dog", she pouted and Charles made a sad face.

"Sorry about that. You need to beg your father a bit more", he answered, hoping her father wouldn't mind that friendly advice.

Nina suddenly looked up and smiled brightly, not looking at Charles.

"Papa!", she exclaimed, but didn't make any movements that would signalise him to let her go.

That's when Charles looked up and saw a face he recognised. "Erik?""


	3. Chapter 3

**Erik**

Erik had been running late to pick Nina up, so he got to the school worried for keeping her waiting long. His worry changed quickly into concern and anger, when he spotted her sitting on another man's lap and chatting happily.

He was on his way to give that man a piece of his mind, - because really, who picked up unknown, innocent little girls and placed them on his lap? Granted he could be a member of the faculty, or another father who was there to pick his own daughter up, but that didn't mean he was a good person. Any creep could have a child - but all words were cut from his throat when the other man looked up and spoke his name.

"Charles?", he shot back with a frown that instantly turned into a small smile.

"Do you know my papa?", Nina asked astonished and looked up at the other man with her huge eyes "Kind of", he answered with his british accent that for some reason, made Erik's skin tingle.

"Well, this is a surprise", Erik said and Charles was now looking at him again, also smiling. "Indeed it is. You have a beautiful daughter", he said friendly, and lifted Nina up from his lap, placing her safely on the floor.

She immediately ran towards Erik, who picked her up and won a peck on his cheek, her little arms wrapping around his neck.

"Thank you", he answered and asked "You're here to pick your kid?", because he was curious, and didn't even know Charles was married. Not that it actually mattered for something, he just… didn't know.

"I'm actually here to talk to a teacher, my son's been giving some trouble", he answered not breaking eye contact, but then looked down and started putting Nina's paintings together, before placing them neatly inside her backpack and closing it.

"Don't they all?", Erik asked with a chuckle and wondered for a second what the hell happened with the bad mood that had followed him all through the day.

Charles laughed lightly at that and got up from his seat, offering Erik the pink bag, which he put on his free shoulder.

"Did your wife like the flowers?", he asked then, standing in front of Erik with his hands shoved inside his pockets "Yes, very much. Thank you again, I wouldn't have known what to give her".

Charles smiled, and Erik decided it was a sight for sore eyes. "I'm glad. That bouquet was inspired by the one I give my own wife when I need to apologize", he answered brightly and Erik nodded.

"You have good taste", he answered for lack of other things to say. A silence grew between them, bordering uncomfortable and he shifted Nina on his arms a little.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, Charles", he said sounding a little too sad for his own ears. Why did he want to stay there talking to him?

But when Erik was about to reach out and hold the other man's hand as a goodbye, Nina spoke up "No, papa! We can't go", she said shaking her head, her bangs moving in front of her forehead.

"Why not, prinzessin?", he asked and she looked at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Charles waited with me. Now we wait with him", she said simply and Erik looked from her to Charles. It's not like he had anything else to do right now anyway.

"Of course, if he doesn't mind?", he asked the other man.

 **Charles**

"Of course not", Charles smiled and offered Erik the seat next to him with a hand gesture. The other man sat down and put Nina on his lap, just like Charles did a few minutes ago.

"May I just ask, do you - by any chance - have German roots?", Charles then asked, remembering what Erik had called his daughter.

"How did you notice?", Erik asked, cocking his head to one side. Nina seemed happy that Charles noticed such a detail of their lives. Or she just enjoyed seeing them both talking …

"My stepfather was half german and I recognised the word for princess", Charles explained with a small smile.

"Yeah, we try to raise her bilingual but somehow only some words are sticking with her, nicht Nina?" - "Ja, Papa."

Charles smiled at that and leaned closer to Nina. "Knowing two languages at your age makes you really smart", he told her and watched her face light up with joy.

"And where do you come from? You have a british accent", Erik asked curiously.

"Oh, I have british roots, yes. But I was born in New York City, so I'm American", Charles answered and Erik nodded at that.

There was another slightly uncomfortable silence between them, so Charles quickly thought about what else to say.

"Do you come to the school play?", he asked, pointing at the poster he noticed at the wall.

"Papa has to come! I'm playing the fairy", Nina said and looked between the two man.

 **Erik**

Erik smiled reassuringly at his daughter and answered "Of course I'm coming. Are you?" - "Yeah, David is playing too", he said with a nod of his head.

Right then, a door opened to their left, and a little boy with brown locks of hair peeked outside, his face lit up when he saw them and he called "Daddy? Mrs Hudson wants to speak to you now", and Charles' eyebrows shot up when he looked at Erik and Nina.

"Well, I must get going now. Thank you for staying, Nina" he told the little girl while holding her chin between his finger and thumb, making her giggle.

"You too, Erik", he completed locking eyes with him, making Erik's soul feel bare.

"Yeah, thanks for keeping Nina company", he answered as they both got up. Erik chanced a look at the little boy, but he wasn't at the door anymore, so he let it go. He had only gotten a glimpse of David, but it had been enough to see he looked a lot like his father.

"Will we see you at the play?", Nina asked wide-eyed and Charles smiled "I hope so", before giving Erik a nod and turning around, entering the classroom.

He stood at the corridor for a moment, holding his daughter on his arm, her backpack on his shoulder, and just stared at the door Charles had disappeared behind before shaking his head and walking away.

It had been nice to see the florist again. He seemed like a good guy, and Erik hadn't really talked to nice people much, apart from his family. He didn't have many friends, and found refreshing to chat with Charles.

Maybe that was why he agreed to stay a little longer when Nina had said they should. He wouldn't have stayed to keep company to anyone else.

Erik started the small walk from the school to his house, - Magda had stayed with the car, as usual - and seized the moment to tell his daughter once again not to talk to strangers and sit on their laps. No matter how nice the stranger looked. No matter how soft his hair seemed. No matter how kind his eyes were.

 **Charles**

Charles shook hands with mrs Hudson and sat down, putting his son on his lap. He wasn't as calm as Nina was, while he held her, and Charles immediately wondered why.

"I wanted to talk to you about David, mr Xavier. I have reasons to assume that he suffers from a slight form of autism or ADHD" Charles looked at her, frowning and not really being able to follow.

"Come again?" - "I know, it's hard to process, but we handled quite a lot of children on our school so far and some of them are just too active for their own good. We just want to make sure to tell the parents whenever we suspect ADHD or any form of autism. In 90% of the cases we are right, but that only shows a test at the doctors."

Charles stared at David who was jumping up and down his thigh. His son looked around, searching for something to kill time with.

"Mr Xavier. This is no reason at all to worry. David can still stay at our school and we will make sure he'll get special treatment if the test will be positive. We, as a school for young children, just want to make sure that our kids will get the best education."

She kept on talking, but Charles' mind had wandered somewhere else. Had Moira and him really been that blind to not notice the behaviour of their son? Did that make them bad parents? What will be the consequences for David?

His mind was blank and yet so full of questions.

 **Magda**

"So, how was school today, honey?", Magda asked during dinner, looking at her daughter.

Nina looked up from her plate and smiled.

"Great! Papa made a new friend", she grinned and Magda raised an eyebrow at her husband.

"Oh, is that so?", she asked, silently demanding an explanation.

 **Erik**

Erik opened his mouth, his eyebrows raising as he scrambled for words.

'Not quite', he said defensively and didn't know why he was using such tone. It's not like having a friend was something wrong. It was only unusual of him and the three of them knew it. For someone to be Erik's friend… Well, that person had to be angelic. Which he thought Charles might be.

'I er… Met him at the flower shop and then again today at the school', he explained and Magda asked 'Him, huh?', because she couldn't contain herself.

She was a rather jealous woman and knowing Erik swang for both teams, didn't make things better. They had their fair share of fights about it.

He shot her a stern look and answered: 'Yes, and he was very interested in knowing if the flowers he put together helped me making it right with my wife'.

Erik hoped that answer was soothing enough, but it earned him a sad expression and Magda asked 'You didn't pick them yourself?', sounding hurt.

He felt his good mood quickly going down the drain, not understanding why his wife was being like that. 'I hardly know anything about flowers, do I? He helped, it's his job', he answered a little more sharply than intended, and Magda nodded.

She tried lighten up a little bit after that, which maybe it meant she realised she was putting up a fuss because of nothing.

'So, what's his name?', she asked casually and Nina answered more than happily 'Charles! He said my paintings are beautiful' - 'He is right', she confirmed.

'He married?' - 'Yes. He was at the school because of his son. I think he and Nina are the same age… They are on the same play together', he answered making an effort of keeping the conversation going, not wanting to stir other fights between them soon. But then again, that would just mean he would have to go to the flower shop.

'This weekend's play?', Magda asked and Erik nodded, putting food inside his mouth as an excuse to not have to say anything.

'I'm looking forward to meet him', she said at last and Erik almost choked on his food. Was it wrong that he wanted to keep Charles private? Something only for himself until he knew he had a solid friendship there?

It was too much of an assumption, of course. But Charles was nice enough, and so far he hadn't been scared by Erik's smile or his grumpiness. Not that he had been grumpy around ocean blue eyes.

 **Charles**

When Charles told Moira what he had learned about David today, she took it almost the same way as he did. She had to sit down for a moment and Charles quickly sat next to her and embracing her in his arms.

"We need to get him tested first, darling. We shouldn't make assumptions right now. Besides, I learned a lot about it already and it isn't something you can't fight with therapy. I know, it sounds terrible at first, like our son is sick. But he isn't in pain or anything, so it could be worse", he said.

Moira nodded, her head in her hands.

"Autism, huh?", she asked and looked up, her eyes full of fear and worry. Charles nodded.

"But it could also be ADHD or we really just have an eager kid. Whatever it is, we need to make an appointment at the doctor." Moira nodded at that and Charles once again pulled her into his arms.

 **Magda**

"So, about Charles", Magda started as she lay with her husband in bed.

She heard him groan and the sheets rustling as he turned away. It hurt her.

"Can you describe how he looks like?", she continued and waited for an answer.

"Long, brown hair and blue eyes. Shorter than me. That's all I remember", came his brusquely answer.

Magda knew he must have hidden some details, because this cannot be the only thing one noticed when they see a person twice and speak with them.

"Erik. Tell me more", she pleaded. She just couldn't stand her husband getting a new friend in a time when he only fights with his wife.

 **Erik**

Erik closed his eyes and prayed for patience as he thought of what to answer.

Charles had the most incredible set of blue eyes Erik had ever seen. He had cherry-red lips, almost as if he had just been thoroughly kissed. He had a few creases on his forehead when he frowned or raised his eyebrows. He had this rough beard that asked for a trim, but somehow looked amazing on his face.

Charles had a slightly crooked nose, that looked adorable, - Erik never called anything adorable besides Nina. And he also had this short, compact body, graced with broad shoulders and thick thighs.

Needless to say, Erik was surprised about how many details his mind had managed to memorise about that stranger, and he knew he couldn't tell his wife all of that.

'You know I'm not good in noticing details', he said and Magda snorted. That was an understanding - Erik had barely ever noticed something different when she came back from beauty parlors and stuff.

'But he hm… He's got a beard. And he's rough looking for a florist, but when he talks he's nice. He's american, but has a british accent. And that's all I know', he answered hoping Magda would let it go now.

'What did you guys talk about?', she asked in a small tone and Erik would have groaned if he wanted a fight.

'Flowers' - 'And today?' - 'Is this an interrogatory? Am I not allowed to have friends?', he asked getting more and more annoyed by the second.

'Look Magda, you'll meet him this weekend at the play and see for yourself ok? I barely ever talked to the guy, for God's sakes', he bursted out and that was the end of it for that night.

 **Moira**

Moira laid curled up next to Charles, enjoying her husband's warmth.

She was worried sick about David, but Charles had tried soothing her and she let him. He had had more time to adjust to the prospect and made it sound like it wasn't entirely bad, so she chose to believe him.

It was morning now, and she had woken up way earlier than expected, thinking about the phone call they would have to make now.

They needed to get an appointment as soon as possible and figure out what was wrong with David. With any luck, they would be able to fix it with therapies. Expansive therapies they didn't have the money for.

Well, there it goes the idea for another baby. Maybe for now though, how long it could take?

She looked over at her husband, and not for once wished he would cut that hair and take that beard off, looking more like he did when they met. Charles was still freaking gorgeous though so she didn't mind the change of looks, she just missed a time when he looked softer, younger, less worried.

'I can hear you thinking, you know', he surprised her by being awake and she pressed a kiss on his shoulder 'No, you can't'.

 **Charles**

Charles got out of bed after caressing Moira for another ten minutes and walked into Hannah's room. They were lucky enough to have a house with three bedrooms, so both their kids had their own room. Having another child would not allow that anymore - no, he wouldn't think about that in the morning.

"Hello princess. Did you sleep well?", he asked as he saw that Hannah was already up. She nodded and smiled brightly at him, already wide awake.

"Can you dress up and come eat breakfast?", he asked. "Yes, daddy", she smiled like an angel at him.

Charles proceeded to wake David and joined Moira in the kitchen who was already putting cereals in a bowl and brewing coffee.

"Bagel?", she asked and Charles answered, "please."

They ate breakfast together with their kids and Moira carefully approached the topic the two adults had been avoiding all morning.

"Are you gonna make the appointment, hun?" - "Yes. I can call from work." Moira nodded and they went silent, listening to their children babble about their dreams.

When Charles went to work, he called the doctor and made an appointment next week.

 **Magda**

On Saturday evening, Magda walked up to Erik and smiled at him. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Look what I've got us", she said and held out a blue tie for Erik and a matching, thin scarf for herself.

Erik frowned. "What is this?"

"Matching clothes. I thought it would be rather cute if we could wear those for Nina's play."

She was happy to see them in the store with Francesca on Friday, thinking it would be a cute way to tell they belonged to each other.

"C'mon, try it on", she smiled and wrapped the tie around Erik's neck in a loose way.

 **Erik**

Erik wasn't a fan of color coordinating, and doing so made him feel like he was owned by someone else. But the smile on Magda's face made him believe she didn't do it in a bad way. Maybe she was doing that unconsciously, and she did look happy with the idea of them showing around they were together, so he tried the tie.

His wife beamed at him, and watched as he checked it on the mirror, getting closer and wrapping her arms around him. He liked seeing her like that, so he didn't mention it made them look a little like fools.

He took the tie off in order to go get a shower and start to actually get ready for the play, and went towards the bathroom after giving her a kiss on the forehead and saying "I loved it", with all the honesty he could muster.

He took a quick shower and changed into black pants, a white button-up shirt and his blue tie. Magda went to the shower after him, and Erik decided to check on Nina.

She was sitting on her bed chewing on her bottom lip, and he squatted down next to her, putting a calming hand on her knee.

"Are you nervous, my love?", he asked even though he knew the answer. She nodded and he held her chin, - just like Charles had done those days ago - looking into her eyes.

"You'll do great" - "What if I forget my lines?" - "Then you come up with new ones", he said calmly. "I can't do that papa", she shook her head.

"If you forget your lines, your teacher will help. And papa will be there to make it better, ok? I promise" - "Promise?" - "Yes", he sealed it with a kiss on her forehead, and proceeded to help her with her fairy fantasy.

When Magda came out from the room, she was wearing a pretty white dress with her blue scarf around her neck, and blue shoes that weren't the same tone, but matched.

"You look beautiful", he told her and won a kiss on the lips "You don't look bad yourself", she answered pulling at his tie with a possessiveness that didn't make him very happy.

Then, Magda started working on Nina's hair and her light makeup before the three of them left for the school.

 **Moira**

Moira was practically running around the house, shouting orders to her family. It was required for the kid's on the play to get there earlier, and they were bordering on getting late.

"Charles? Is Hannah ready?", she asked as she tried to fix David's hair. The little boy's lips were moving rapidly as he tried to remember all his lines, and she smiled reassuringly at him.

"Almost", her husband yelled from their girl's room and Moira answered "Hurry up!" - "I'm trying to!".

It was only a few minutes later that they managed to leave for the school, and got there 10 minutes later than they should have, but still earlier than when the play was supposed to start.

David was immediately called by Mrs Hudson, and ran backstage, to meet his friends and talk to them.

Moira looked around then, and saw that the audience was still empty, only the parents of the ones who were playing were there so far. She turned her neck looking for the perfect spot to sit, and was about to ask Charles where he prefered, but noticed he wasn't looking for seats at all.

"What are you looking at?", she asked curious.

 **Charles**

Charles saw Erik the minute he walked into the wide room with his wife clinging at his arm. He noticed their matching tie and scarf, wondering for a brief moment who still did such thing.

But his mind was quickly distracted by how good looking Erik was. The white button-up was highlighting his slim hips and contrasting them with his broad shoulders. The collar with the tie made his neck seem long and very - very kissable. His hair was gelled so it stood in up a little and looked kind of messy. He had trimmed shaved - much to Charles displeasure because he had rather liked his beard.

Completely lost in his thoughts about Erik, Charles didn't even understand the question from Moira, until she slightly tucked at his sleeve.

"Honey? What is it?", she asked confused and looked into the directing he was glancing.

"Uh- I saw someone I know. Let's say hi, shall we? I can introduce you", he quickly explained, already starting to walk towards Erik.

When he was ten feet away from the taller man, Erik seemed to finally see him too and a wide smile appeared on his lips.  
"Charles", he said and gently touched the woman next to him on the arm to get her attention, before pointing at Charles and they both walked closer.

"Erik. It's good to see you", he said, wearing an equally wide smile on his face.

It was a moment they just stared at each other without saying anything, until Erik's wife suddenly cleared her throat and Erik snapped out of his stare.

"Oh, allow me to introduce my wife to you", Erik said, putting an arm around her waist that immediately lowered Charles heartbeat, "this is Magda."

The woman, who was about Charles' height, raised her hand and Charles shook it gently, smiling little at her. "Nice to meet you", she said in a foreign accent that didn't sound german, british or american.

"Pleasure", Charles answered and let go of her hand. Then he turned around to Moira and Hannah who was in his wife's arms.

"This is Moira, my beautiful wife, and our youngest child, Hannah." Moira smiled at the two strangers in front of her and made Hannah wave into their direction.

"Now, let's find a seat, shall we?", Erik said and Charles nodded eagerly, their two wives still very quiet and polite to the rest of the group.

They took a seat in the second row, so their children would see them when they were on stage, Charles sitting down next to Erik and Moira, and Magda next to her husbands. As soon as they sat down, Hannah climbed on Charles' lap, pressing herself into his chest. She was rather shy towards strangers, so she looked at Erik with huge blue eyes from behind Charles' collar of his navy blue button-down that was opened at his neck.

Her gaze fell to Erik's bright, blue tie that somehow caught her attention and she reached out with her hands to grab and play with it. Charles noticed that and looked at Erik to see his reaction, evaluating if he should tell her to stop or not.

"I'm sorry, she's in that grabby age", he apologised.

 **Erik**

"That's okay", Erik answered softly and his gaze fell to Charles' exposed neck. There was just a little of his chest in display and Erik thought how unfair it was for that man to keep that button opened.

He quickly snapped out of it though and looked at Hannah "I'm used to it", he said not wanting to let the conversation die, and his hand flew up without his mind telling it to. For the tiniest second, Erik thought he was going to do something terribly wrong and irreparable, but his hand ruffled Hannah's dark hair, and his mouth formed the words "She's a beautiful girl, Charles".

"So is Nina, I see where she get her looks", he answered and Erik's breath caught on his throat.

He looked straight at bright blue eyes, his mouth hanging half-opened lacking words, until Magda moved a little next to him and said "Thank you, Charles", politely.

Oh, right. Magda. Charles had just met her, and now he knew where Nina's looks came from because Magda was beautiful. Right.

"I could say the same", Erik answered and won a small smile from Moira.

The audience was already filled up now, and the lights were turned off as a low song started playing from behind the curtains.

Erik and Charles ripped their eyes away from each other, looking over at the stage, waiting for the red drapes to open up.

It was five minutes in the play, when Nina made her first appearance. The funny thing, is that Charles' reaction to her was more excited than Erik's and Magda's.

"That's Nina!", he told his wife "Erik's, daughter. Isn't she pretty?" - "She is", Moira answered, and Charles looked towards Erik with a blinding smile.

Erik's face was a little tense though, and Charles asked "What?" - "I'm just nervous", he answered staring at the stage.

"Why?" - "She was scared when we left home, I don't want her to feel embarrassed". He was still looking straight at his daughter when he felt a warm hand patting him on the knee twice "She'll be fine", the silky british voice told him, and Erik believed so immediately.

A group of three other students entered the stage then and Erik asked "Is that David in the middle?", to which Charles nodded frantically "It is" - "He looks just like you", Erik pointed out, a small blush creeping on his cheeks.

"Thank you, my friend", the other man answered, and Erik was quickly brought back to Earth. Right, a friend. He needed a friend. Maybe one less good looking so he could actually look at him without thinking of how soft that hair must feel like between his fingers. Or how rough the beard would scrape the skin between his thig- don't go there, Erik.

 **Charles**

David and Nina didn't do any mistake for the first half of the play. Other children however, made mistakes but no one laughed when 'the big bad wolf' was mixed up with 'a big bear' and a child in a wolf costume came on stage. All the parents were utterly proud of their children and so was Charles, when he watched David kissing the hand of the princess before he rode away on a stick pony.

When it was time for the break, the teachers and voluntary parents sold food and drinks from a large buffett. Moira got up from her seat and took Hannah into her arms who was starting to get tired.

"I'm gonna see if I can find a quieter place to get her some rest", Charles' wife said to which he agreed. Then they left and Charles was left alone with Erik and Magda.

"Darling? I'm hungry", Magda said quietly to her husband, but Charles understood however.

"Then go get you something?", Erik suggested. Wrong, Erik.

"Yeah, but Nina might come back" - "Then wait for her to come back and go then?"

If Erik continued like that, he'd have to stop by Charles' flower shop sooner than they both thought. Charles sighed and decided to help out.

"I can get you something. What do you want?" - "I'm vegetarian, so nothing with meat." - "Sure." Charles got up and walked out of the row of seats. "Oh, if David comes by, make sure to tell him I'm right back."

Then he walked to the buffet and searched for something without meat.

 **Magda**

Magda glanced at her husband who just followed Charles with his eyes. She was a bit annoyed at her husband's behaviour.

"Erik? Can you stop eating Charles up with yours eyes", she said coldly, glancing at her husband.

Erik seemed to listen to that and turned her head towards here.  
"Don't make a scene here, now. Charles is married and so am I. To you! So stop being jealous, Magda", Erik hissed, looking angry at her. She swallowed thickly at that.

"Well then stop looking at him like that! Besides, Charles could have an open marriage! He certainly looks like it", she answered, but Erik's eyes flew up when she was halfway through her sentence and she frowned.  
"Me and my wife are in a monogamous marriage", she heard Charles' voice behind her and turned around, paling a little. "I brought you piernik - I believe that's how you pronounce it. You have a polish accent, don't you? I thought it was nice to have something polish to eat. I also brought some pasta salad."

Magda blushed furiously as she took the plate and mumbled a small "thank you", before Charles went on and sat down on his seat again.

 **Erik**

Erik was a mix of angry and embarrassed. He hoped with every fiber of his body that Charles hadn't been close enough to hear Magda talking about how Erik looked at him. But that wouldn't make any difference in keeping the friendship alive at all.

Even if he didn't hear about it, he heard the rest and why on Earth would they be discussing about Charles' marital life if there wasn't something suspicious?

At least Charles was still sitting next to him. Was he too polite to leave now or was he just not that bothered by what he had just overheard?

He glanced at the man next to him, but Charles' eyes wouldn't meet his and Erik didn't want to say anything in front of Magda anymore. He suspected that even if he and Charles started talking about something as trivial as the weather, she would still read too much into it.

It was then, that Nina came running towards them, giving small little jumps.

"Mama, papa, did you see me? I didn't forget my lines!", she squeaked "I saw it, prinzessin. You were great up there!" - "Thank you!", she said with a huge smile on her face, and then, noticed Charles.

"Charles!", she yelled throwing herself at the other man's legs. Charles' hand immediately went towards her head and he caressed her "You were great, Nina!", he said, and Erik couldn't help the silly smile on his lips, the warmth spreading from his heart to his body.

David came running no two minutes later, and also threw himself on his father. Nina and he knew each other from school and opened small smiles.

"You know my daddy?", the little boy asked wide-eyed and Nina nodded, before she turned to her parents and said "This is my papa. And my mama", she pointed at them both and Erik smiled at David, saying "You were really good up there, David", making the boy blush.

A lock of hair fell from Nina's up-do and she looked at Magda with desperate eyes "Mama! My hair is messed up", she complained, her lower lip trembling slightly.

Magda that was almost done eating, put her plate down and stood up from her chair not looking happy about it. "Let's go to the bathroom fix it, love", she told Nina who held her hand and waved goodbye to Charles and David with the other one.

Another little boy shouted David's name, and he looked at his father asking for permission to go talk to his friend. Charles nodded at him and said "Don't go too far!", before David ran towards his friends.

They were both finally, - finally - alone now, and Erik looked at Charles feeling weary. Those enervating blue eyes met his, and Erik's mouth hung open not for the first time in the evening.

"I'm so sorry for what Magda said", he blurted out after what felt like forever. "We're just going through a rough patch and she's rather… possessive. Even though I never cheated on her. It doesn't help that I like men as well", he continued, wondering what the hell was wrong with him, and why had he just told Charles he was interested in men.

"So, uh. Sorry. I understand if you feel like hiding when you see me on the next plays", he attempted a small smile, but failed miserably.

 **Charles**

"Why would I hide from you, Erik?", Charles answered, liking the way Erik felt sorry for his wife's behaviour - it showed that he was rather sensible and considerate. When Charles looked at the other man, he saw slight fear in his eyes that Charles wouldn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. But why would he?  
"I'm sorry that you're going through a rough time in your marriage right now. But every couple does and it's rather hard for Moira and me as well. We'll get through this, you'll see", Charles tried to cheer Erik up and implying that he would want to stick around with Erik for a little longer.

He could very much see them becoming friends in the near future, even though Charles wanted so much more. He wanted to stick his tongue inside this sinful mouth, exploring every inch of it and - much rather - he would like to watch Erik's face when Charles thrusted into him.

Charles bit his lip to stop his thoughts right there and noticed Erik's eyes glancing down for a split second, before he met Charles' eyes again. It was enough to make Charles' imagination running wild as he imagined them snogging in the school's bathroom, like he did when he was a teenager.

"So um-", he started with a raspy voice and broke the sentence as it failed him completely.

Erik seemed to snap out of his gaze just then, leaning back as they had unintentionally came closer to each other.

"Yes, yes thank you. I hope so. And I'm really sorry again", he rushed to say. "It was nothing, really", Charles answered with a small smile lingering on his lips.

Both their wives chose to return just then, as the play started to continue and they watched the rest of it. Hannah slept peacefully on half Charles and half Moira, grabbing Erik's jacket somehow as well. When the play was over and everyone cheered and applauded, taking photos of their children in their costumes, Hannah woke up again.

Everybody got up and searched for their children and so did the little group. However, it was time for the inevitable goodbye and Charles turned towards Erik with a smile.

"See you around?", he asked and Erik nodded eagerly, giving him a somehow sharky smile.

"I'm sure we'll meet again", Erik answered.

 **Erik**

But they didn't.

After the school play, Erik and Magda had gone home listening to Nina's excited chatter about how great the play had been, and how happy she was about it.

It warmed Erik's heart to see his little girl like that, but after he had parted from Charles, his bad mood had sunk in again. It felt even worse, like it was trying to get back at Erik for being happy for the past hour.

It was inevitable that when they got home, he and Magda had fought. He was mad because of her behaviour, and she was insisting she had done nothing wrong - even though she did blush when she remembered the slip in front of Charles.

Erik had slept on the couch that night, and on the three following nights as well, until Magda had apologised.

Usually he was the one to break first, not wanting to keep the atmosphere around the house heavy, and whenever Nina started realising something was wrong, he would run and ask Magda to forgive him. Not this time. This time he stood his ground, barely speaking to his wife until she admitted she had been wrong.

And Erik should have felt bad about the fact that she might have been onto something. Because if he could, God knows he would hold Charles up against a wall and fuck him raw. But still, after eight years of marriage he had never been unfaithful and he didn't plan on starting it now.

Besides, she had been rude with Charles, which just made him incredibly angry. No one should be rude with Charles.

He had volunteered along the week to take Nina to class more frequently in the morning. It wasn't easy for him to pick her up, seeing he would have to leave work earlier to do that, so he found himself waking up and getting an energy ball ready and in primary school in impeccable time.

He hadn't met Charles there during the following week, though. Never bumped into him or caught a glimpse of David running around, and it made his heart shrink.

It was not until friday night when Erik was in bed next to Magda, that he concluded three things.

She had unsuccessfully tried to have sex for the first time since their fight on saturday, and Erik had turned her down finding he wasn't aroused at all, which made him discover that yes, he was still a little mad. He couldn't understand why. It hadn't been that bad of a thing, but it had crawled under his skin and made his blood boil, so he wasn't being quick to forgive yet.

Then, when they turned their backs on each other, he realised he had been more aroused merely thinking of Charles' mouth than with actually feeling his wife's on his body.

And last, he concluded that meeting Charles all those three times had felt like fate. Like they were both supposed to be there at that right place, in the right time, to simply see each other. But Erik had figured out a long time ago, that even if it had given him the most gorgeous daughter, the universe wasn't fond of him. So maybe… maybe he should just look for Charles. He did know where the man worked.

He shook his head. One more week. He just had to give the universe another week to bring them together. If it didn't, then sod the fucking destiny. He would go to the flower shop again because he did need a friend. And maybe his wife did deserve a whole lot of flowers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Charles**

The last two weeks had been an up and down for Charles and now he felt confused at where was the top and where was the bottom. He was drained and felt upside down, confused, happy, sad, angry, disappointed - all of it together.

It had started with David's first doctor's appointment on Monday of the first week. Charles went there with his son and waited one hour - despite their appointment - just to be told that David would have to go to a specialist. He walked out of the room, angry and frustrated. Charles wanted nothing more than to know if something was wrong with his son.

He got another appointment two days later, so they went there again - this time accompanied by Moira and Hannah. The doctor ran several tests on David and when he finally came to a conclusion, it was the first time after seeing Erik that Charles had been happy.

"There is nothing wrong with David. Everything is perfectly fine and he is just a very active child. Maybe try and assign him in a sport team", the doctor had said and both parents let out a sigh in relief.

That happiness was soon washed out of Charles body, when two days later Moira had tried to convince him having another child was a good idea once again. They fought terribly, almost shouting at each other, until David walked into their bedroom with his little bunny on one hand. He had rubbed his eyes and looked at his parents with sadness and fear in them.

"Why are you fighting?", his tiny voice cut through the thick air, making Charles breath hitch.

"We are not. Go back to sleep, Monkey", Charles had quickly answer and picked him to carry him into his room. He didn't return to bed that night and his good mood was gone for days.

Adding to all those reasons for his terrible mood, was that Erik was never at school when Charles dropped his kids off or picking them up. He wondered if the other man was avoiding him, but abandoned that thought quickly. It still didn't help him feeling disappointed whenever he didn't see Erik at school.

The confusion came today though and it blended perfectly well with all his other emotions. It was, when the bell of his shop rang and he automatically turned to the customer, that his jaw literally hung open at who was there, surrounded by beautiful flowers but somehow being able to make them look boring.

"Erik? To what do I own the pleasure?", Charles asked surprised but mainly happy - and confused as mentioned.

"I - uh.. I need flowers for my wife", Erik answered, looking around the shop awkwardly.

Charles' heart sank at that. Of course, he needed flowers. For his wife. Why else would he come by?

Charles put on a professional mask and smiled at him.

"Sure. What is it this time? Another apology or ..?"

 **Erik**

"Er… it's more like an excuse", Erik said cursing inwards for not having thought that through before entering the shop.

He had been restless the last week, and when the universe didn't help them meet again, - what a surprise - he had run into the shop without thinking too much into it.

"An excuse?", Charles asked frowning, because Erik's answer didn't make any sense at all.

"Yeah, uh… something like that", he said biting his tongue. When had he become so bad with words? Granted he didn't have many people on his life, but he had always been good with talking and putting the words out there. Never had he stuttered or worried so much as when he was around that man.

"I can't do much with that", Charles said and Erik stopped looking around the store to finally lock eyes with him.

God, Erik's memory didn't fail him at all at how gorgeous it made Charles look. He was standing there with that long hair of his, a blue sweater that brought out his eyes, and that beard that made Erik shiver whenever he thought of it.

While Erik himself was simply on his jeans and a black turtleneck. He had also let his beard grow a little, and he knew he looked close to a bum whenever he did that. Why didn't he put more effort in his looks before going there?

"I'll just take anything", Erik said. He thought that going with the truth was the best way to grow a friendships, so he might as well just say it already. "I er… wanted to know if you'd like to grab a coffee sometime?", _fuck ,_ why was he making it sound like a date?

"I mean… Or just hang out. The flowers were just an excuse to come by", he said looking awkwardly around the store once again, while Charles was still standing behind the counter, his frown barely changing.

 **Charles**

The confusion rose in Charles as he walked around the counter to be closer to Erik. Did the other man come back just for him? Did he want Charles' … friendship?

He came to a halt just in front of Erik and smiled up to him. Somehow he had walked closer than he intended to, but he couldn't back away now.

"I'd very much like that. Now, what can I get you?", he asked, clapping his hands together and walking around his shop. If he would have stood close to Erik for one more moment, he would have given in and kissed him breathless.

Having all those problems with Moira certainly didn't help on the little crush he had on Erik, so he wanted to avoid being close to him at all cost.

"Hmmh, I really don't know. Something fresh?", Erik said, sounding undecided.

Charles nodded and looked around his shop. He walked over to faintly yellow lilies with thick, green leaves of them.  
"The same price class or?" - "Yeah." Charles grabbed two and walked over to some white flowers, mixing different shapes of them together. Then he grabbed lots of green leaves and walked to the counter to arrange them.

"Is uh- everything alright?", Erik asked, sounding unsure. Charles looked up from his work and met the other man's insecure eyes.

"Sure. Why are you asking?", Charles asked back, frowning in confusion once again. Erik was acting weird today.

"It's just … you're so silent. Is it because of what Magda said? I-", Erik started apologising again, but Charles cut him off.

"Erik. Everything's fine. I'm sorry, I was quiet. It was a rough week for me", Charles answered and gave him a weary smile. Erik nodded at that and didn't meet his eyes afterwards.

He probably still thought it had another reason, but Charles mood had started to rise since Erik stepped into his shop.

He finished the flowers and held them out for Erik to examine. "They are beautiful", Erik answered in a firm voice, before he got his purse out and paid for them.

Charles handed Erik the flowers and grabbed his cardigan, purse and keys. He walked with Erik towards the door, until Erik slowed down and looked confused at him.  
"I can take a break now. Are you still up for that coffee? I'd love to chat with you", Charles explained with a cheeky grin.

 **Erik**

"Yes", Erik breathed out, not believing Charles was actually going out with him right now. That cheeky grin on the other man's face looked positively sinful, and Erik wondered how the flowers would look like after he threw Charles on the flat surface and snogged him on top of them.

He was thankful that his day off allowed him to have this moment with the other man now, and suddenly all the tiredness he always felt, all the soreness in his muscles, was gone.

"There's a nice coffee shop right around the corner", Charles told him, as he turned around a little plaque that would tell any possible clients that the shop was closed, and held the door open for Erik to go out.

They walked in silence until they reached the coffee place, and sat across from each other, holding a menu and thinking about what they wanted.

When the waiter came, Erik ordered black coffee while Charles asked for tea.

Erik sat there looking at Charles, his eyes examining every little detail, every little wrinkle and hair out of place. And even if Charles looked a little uncomfortable being studied like that, he didn't complain. In fact, he did the same to Erik.

The flower bouquet sat on top of the table, as a reminder to Erik to why he couldn't just lean forward, put on a dashing smile and tell Charles he looked beautiful before catching his lips on a breathtaking kiss that would leave them panting for more.

Of course, there were other things that stopped him besides the flower. If he did that, it could easily end up with Charles punching his face all the way to next week since there was no sign he could be remotely interested in men. He hadn't reacted badly when Erik told him about his sexuality though, so at least there was that.

"So er… Would you like to tell me about your rough week?", Erik asked after a few moments, his voice sounding a little raspy because of all the feelings and thoughts he was having.

"I wouldn't want to bore you with it", Charles answered with a smile and Erik promptly said "I wouldn't be bothered", which made Charles' smile widen.

"Well, if you say so. We had this scare two weeks ago, where Mrs Hudson told us David might have a problem. He's a very active kid so she thought he could need medical attention and all", he said and Erik's brows shot up.

"Does he?", he asked a little solemnly and Charles shook his head, making relief wash through Erik.

"He doesn't. But it still got me worried" - "I would have been too", he said honestly, and they stopped talking while the waiter came back with their orders.

"And now", Charles continued after "Moira and I are having some problems. So yeah. I'm just a little worn out from fighting and being worried" - "I see. Magda and I didn't improve so much".

Erik wanted to know more about Charles' marriage even if it was a little selfish. He thought it would be easier for the other man to tell him something, if Erik wasn't too closed off.

"Been fighting a lot?" Charles asked, before Erik could say anything else. "No, just for the first week. I was a little mad at her because of what she said. But now we're just distant" he answered sipping on his coffee and raised an eyebrow at Charles, as if inviting him to reveal something as well.

"I think I'd rather distance at this point", Charles said nursing his tea and throwing an insane amount of sugar in it. "Moira is convinced we should have another child", the other man completed, and Erik almost choked, but successfully kept his cool.

"And do you want to?" - "Not really, no. What about you? Any kids in the future?", the other man asked and Erik snorted.

"I think that would require sex", he answered looking at his coffee, and when he realised what he had just said he quickly looked up at blue eyes and blushed hard.

 **Charles**

Charles smiled slightly at Erik and threw him and understanding look. They barely knew each other, but talking to Erik, Charles wanted to reveal his whole life to the other man. He was glad that it was equally sided.

"Tell me something more about you. I barely know anything", Charles changed the topic and got a thankful glance from Erik.

"There is hardly anything to know about me", Erik muttered, looking at his coffee again.

"I don't believe that. What are you working?" - "Metal factory." - "How old are you?" - "37."

Charles sighed at the single words and took a sip from his tea. Erik apparently didn't like to talk about himself.

"I'm 35 and work in that flower shop you already know. I studied genetics at the university, but then I got to know Moira and moved here to be with her. That's why I never finished my studies. My mother is dead and I so is my father, I am not in contact with my stepfather - the german one - nor my stepbrother."

These were the basic facts about him, without revealing too personal information too fast, possibly scaring Erik away. Charles looked at Erik with a raised eyebrow.

"Where did you study?", Erik asked, "before you met your wife." - "London. About 5 years, give or take."

Erik seemed impressed. "And then you moved half across the globe for some girl?"

"Well, Moira is hardly just some girl, is she?", Charles asked back, causing Erik to blush bashful.

"I didn't mean it like that", the other man corrected and drank from his coffee.

Charles' face loosened and he gave Erik a warm smile. "I know. I'm sorry. So, tell me something more about you. _Christ,_ I don't even know your name", Charles tried again, leaning over the table and looking at Erik.

"I'm boring", Erik mumbled. "I doubt that. Everybody has a story of their life to tell. Let's start with, hmm- ... Were you born in Germany?", Charles asked and out a hand on Erik's arm.

 **Erik**

'Yes', Erik answered nodding. Opening up wasn't easy to him, even when it came to trivial facts about his life. But this was _Charles_. And the other man had revealed some things about him, so he might as well do the same.

'But my parents and I moved from there when I was just a boy. My father past away when I was a teenager, and my mother wasn't the same since then. I graduated in engineering, which kind of helps with my work' - 'Do you like it? Your work?', Charles asked sipping on his tea.

'I guess. It's tiring, I always end up sore. It's a lot of handy work', he answered and saw Charles' eyes trail down Erik's arms, as if trying to take in his muscles through the turtleneck he was wearing.

'Do you like your flower shop?' - 'I do. It makes me happy… Although I think I would have loved getting my degree' - 'What would you have done?', Charles shrugged before answering 'I don't know. Maybe become a professor'.

Erik chuckled at that 'I can see it', he gave Charles a wide smile 'With all the cardigans and sweaters. I can see it'.

Charles smiled at him, the kind of smile that looked secretive and private, making Erik feel like it was just the two of them there, like they were inside this private bubble. And he felt like talking.

'I met Magda at college. She was getting a degree in architecture and we clicked. My last name is Lehnsherr. I like motorcycles. Don't have many friends… None actually… ' he trailed off and Charles kept that beautiful smile on his face.

'Lehnsherr is a rather nice name', his name sounded sinful coming out from Charles' mouth with that accent, and Erik felt himself shiver.

'Mine is Francis Xavier… And I can't believe that. How come you don't have friends?', he frowned a little after asking his question, and it sounded like he genuinely couldn't understand why.

'Well I'm hardly good company. Too moody and grumpy. Not good at talking and opening up. But I rather enjoyed all our conversations so far, so I hoped maybe you did too. Which is why I came today', he answered.

 **Charles**

A gentle but genuine smile appeared on Charles' face and he nodded in agreement. He had enjoyed their conversations as well and was secretly longing to see Erik again.

"Now you've got one friend", Charles said, smirking and watched Erik's face lit up. There was a small twinkle in Erik's eyes and his thin lips slowly start to spread into a joyful smile.

"I'm really glad about that", the other man said and Charles agreed with a small hum.

They continued talking a bit about their lives, but soon Charles finished his tea and cleared his throat.

"I have to go back to work now. It was really nice talking to you, Erik", Charles smiled and then pointed at the flowers which lay forgotten on the table.

"Don't forget these." - "Thanks. Magda will like them", Erik smiled and they both got up.

"I'll pay, don't worry about it. You go back to that shop of yours", Erik offered, but Charles shook his head and gave him the money .

"Goodbye, Erik", Charles then said, putting his hand on the other man's strong arms and lingering there for a moment.

Then he let go and gave Erik one last smile before turning around and leaving the small coffee shop.

"Goodbye, Charles", he heard him saying as he stepped outside.

Charles walked back, keep on thinking about Erik and what information he had revealed about himself.

He now knew that Erik was probably sexually frustrated and Charles didn't know what to do with that information. He had been close to answer Erik with _'_ _Haven't had it in a long time, huh? I could change that'_ or a similar phrase.

 **Magda**

"Oh darling! Flowers", Magda beamed at the bouquet in front of her and pulled her husband close for a long kiss.

"I love you", she whispered and kissed him again, happy about Erik's surprise.

 **Erik**

"I love you too", Erik answered her more like a mechanic reaction. He managed to smile at her and almost succeeded in not thinking what it would feel like if those were Charles' lips on his.

"Did you get it from Charles again?", she asked innocently. Her expression was normal, but Erik could feel that his answer mattered too much.

"Yes, I did", he said honestly. "That's nice. Did you guys hm… catch up?". Erik had pondered all the way home if it was a wise choice to be honest with his wife, and when she asked him the question, he still didn't know what to say.

He decided a heartbeat later that the truth wouldn't do. If Magda got too nervous about this friendship, he would probably have to stop seeing Charles at some point, and that was the last thing he wanted. So he lied.

"No. He just helped me picking up the flowers". He was a good liar, and Magda knew that. Which is why she stared long and hard at his eyes, trying to read him the best she could.

Usually she could tell the truth from looking at him like that, but Erik was _not_ going to let her win this time because this was important.

"Okay", she nodded after an hesitating minute and got on the tip of her toes to kiss Erik again. Charles would also have to stand on the tip of his toes if he ever kissed Erik, he thought.

And as he thought, he pictured a flat chest pressing against his, instead of breasts. He thought about something hard and hot poking his lower body. He thought about a beard burning his mouth, and he was hit by a sudden flash of arousal, so powerful he almost felt like could come only from thinking.

He grabbed Magda's waist and pulled her tight against his body, kissing her mouth in a way he knew she didn't appreciate, but somehow he felt like Charles would like it. To have his mouth ravished like that, almost like Erik was fucking it with his tongue and taking control of everything. With rough, harsh bites and teeth clashing against each other.

"Erik", Magda whispered and he was brought back down to reality. She didn't sound put out by his sudden roughness, but also didn't sound as aroused as he had been just a second ago.

He pulled away and said "I'm glad you liked the flowers", before going to the bathroom and taking a long cold shower.

 **Moira**

"You're in a good mood today", Moira said with a smile on her face.

She and Charles had been fighting too much this last week, and it had been a while since she saw Charles looking so light and at ease around the house.

"I guess so", he answered and Moira didn't know what to do with that.

"Something good happened today?", she attempted to keep the conversation going. Maybe if Charles was in a specially good mood, they could talk once again about having a baby. Maybe even try to that same night.

 **Charles**

His good mood had lowered when Charles came home, but it was still better than his usual mood. He looked at his wife who came closer to and put a hand on his chest. "Nothing special. Why don't we watch a movie with the kids?", Charles asked, not wanting his mood to be ruined by any attempts from Moira. He settled for lying about Erik, even though Moira had nothing against him. Somehow, Charles wanted to keep Erik for himself for now, his own friend. Charles only had friends that also knew Moira and he wanted to have someone to talk to, without the possibility of Moira finding out about it.

"Sure. I'd like that. After dinner then?", she asked and Charles nodded as an answer.

They ate dinner together and chatted about their day, mostly listening to their children talking. David looked happier that his parents didn't fight anymore and babbled on about everything.

After dinner they settled in the living room on the couch to watch a disney movie - toy story. Moira sat down next to Charles and he should have known, she would try to talk to him about unpleasant topics with their kids in the room.

"We have a lot of money to spare", Moira started and he knew where this was going. "No, we don't."

"Yes, we do. Another child wouldn't harm. Please, Charles. It's my wish", she begged and he gave her an angry glare.

"And what about my wishes? You know that I want to move into the suburbs into a house. That's why we don't have money to spare", he hissed, glancing at his children.

"But we could move later, Charles", she begged and Charles almost lost his temper. There went his happy mood.

"We already said that with Hannah. Moira, no." His voice was cold and ended the conversation for once and at all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Erik**

Erik thought he might give destiny another chance to make him meet Charles again, but he wasn't a very patient man.

Actually, he was. But when it came to Charles he simply couldn't wait too long.

Then, he thought it would be best to let the other man seek him now, but it wasn't a good idea, seeing they didn't have each other's phone and Charles didn't know where Erik worked or lived.

Which was why, only a week later he was getting ready to leave home and visit the flower shop. He had wanted to see Charles everyday during the past week, but he had fought hard, not knowing what amount of time was proper to keep away before seeing your friend again.

Magda and Francesca met at least twice a week. So guys probably met less than that. Apart from the fact Erik wanted to sit and talk with Charles on every available time he had, he resisted the urge.

At work, he had imagined Charles sitting next to him on that boring, lonely bench he always had lunch at. He imagined the wind messing up that floppy hair, and reaching out to put it back in place.

Ok, he might have a minor crush on Charles. _Fuck._

Erik checked himself in the mirror. He was wearing a navy blue turtleneck and dark jeans again. He usually dressed up like that and wondered if Charles would find him attractive on the dull grey overall he wore at work.

He put on a coat that went almost to his knee, - it was a rather cold day - and left his home. He walked the path towards the flower shop, that was a little further than the school and found himself getting more nervous by the second.

Should he try and buy flowers for Magda again? It's not like he had the money to afford those beautiful bouquets each time he planned on going to the shop. And last time Magda had been suspicious for a second, so no. No flowers today.

He just wanted to see Charles.

Erik pushed open the door of the flower shop and heard the bell above his head. Charles had his back turned to him, paying attention to another client.

He said 'Be right there with you', and didn't turn, so he didn't know Erik was there.

It was okay though, because Erik took the time to appreciate the view. And good God, Charles' ass was sin. His thighs made Erik's mouth water, and his lean back made Erik want to see how it looked like when Charles was bent over.

He gulped around a lump on his throat and averted his eyes away, focusing on looking at the gorgeous flowers and walking around the shop while Charles was busy.

 **Charles**

The customer was rather annoying and requested incredible tasks. Charles almost groaned when he repeated the same thing for the third time now. No, he couldn't make three bouquets for for the next day in the morning. Yes, he would be able to do that over the weekend. Yes, they could pick them up on Monday morning.

When the customer, a short woman with slightly greasy hair and thick glasses, was finally satisfied, Charles politely said goodbye and sighed in relief when she was finally gone.

Then he remembered hearing the bell ring a few moments earlier and looked around the shop for the other customer. He didn't need long to recognise the tall figure with that incredibly defined body, standing right in between a sea of flowers. Charles heart started beating faster as he approached him.

"Erik. What a surprise", Charles greeted his friend and smiled foolishly. He just couldn't help the corners of his mouth raising when he was around Erik.

"I hope it's a pleasant one", Erik grinned and Charles nodded, putting his hand on Erik's upper arm.

"Of course it is. Did you just come by or do you need anything?" - "No, I just wanted to say hi. I was, hnn, I was around so I thought why not", Erik answered and only hesitated for a moment.

Charles let go of his arm and smiled fondly at him. It was so nice of Erik to come by, but they definitely needed to meet outside his shop as well. Charles wanted to _just say hi_ too.

"Well, I can't take a break right now, but you can stay and we chat a little", Charles suggest and Erik nodded eagerly.

He pointed to a small chair in the corner of the room, "just take that seat and come behind the counter."

Erik did that and they both sat down, half facing each other behind the counter.

"Oh, you can put your coat to my things. They are right behind that door", Charles then said after realising that it might be a bit too warm for Erik to wear his coat in the shop.

"It's fine, I'm not hot", Erik denied and before Charles could stop himself, his mind created a direct connection with his mouth. "Yes, you are."

Charles blushed furiously as Erik's head shot up and the other man eyed him startled.

"I mean, hot might sound a bit blunt. You are good looking and uh.. this is not getting better, is it?", Charles stuttered and couldn't meet Erik's eyes.

 **Erik**

Erik chuckled gently, his heart hammering inside his chest. He didn't know where his answer had come from, but Charles' expression had been worth it.

"No, it's not getting any better", he said in a soft tone before adding "You're hot too, Charles. Very pleasant to the eyes", and bright blue eyes shot up to meet his.

Charles' face was starting to get a dangerous red tone in it, and Erik thought maybe he was blushing just as much. He didn't _blush._

"I er…", the other man trailed off and Erik raised his eyebrow. Maybe his answer had been a bit too much, after all, what Charles had said had been just a slip, while Erik had offered that piece of information freely and shamelessly.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable", Erik then said. Charles could be not interested in men like that, even if he had admitted to finding Erik good looking, and it could easily make the other man feel weird about being praised by another male.

"No, no, you didn't", he hurried to answer "You just caught me off guard" - "I could say the same".

They both looked around the shop awkwardly and Erik had to fight hard all the thoughts of Charles calling him hot in the middle of a make out session, and Erik saying how sexy he was as he took Charles' cock inside his mouth. It wasn't an easy task.

He cleared his throat after a while and asked "So uh… what are your hobbies? Besides flowers", trying to make conversation and get to know the other man.

Charles faced him again, this time with a small smile on his lips and answered "I like watching movies with my kids. Taking David out to play ball. Playing with Hannah", he said simply and Erik couldn't help but ask "Nothing that doesn't involve your kids?", because it did sound like Charles didn't have a life apart from his family.

The other man seemed to think about it for a minute, which made Erik relieved to see his question hadn't been too rude.

"I like reading. And playing chess" - "You play chess?", he asked pleased and Charles smiled immediately.

"I do, my friend" - "We should have a game sometime", Erik said in a heartbeat, the idea already sounding brilliant inside his head.

"I'd like that" - "Me too. Maybe in a park nearby? I could bring my set" - "That sounds lovely, Erik", the other man answered, and a smile curled up on both their lips.

"What about your hobbies?", Charles then asked and Erik chewed on his bottom lip before answering "I like to cook. And long showers", he answered with a cheeky grin.

It was wrong of him, but he really did want Charles to think of himself on those two scenarios. Wrapping his arms around Erik's waist while he cooked. Erik falling to his knees in front of him while they took a shower. Thinking about it wasn't wrong, was it?

 **Charles**

An image of Erik on his knees in front of Charles in the shower flashed into his mind. He imagined Erik sucking him off, Charles grabbing his hair roughly. A moan almost escaped Charles mouth at that through.

"Long showers? That's a nice hobby", Charles settled to say, his voice a bit throaty. "Very random but nice."

A customer came inside the shop and Charles jumped up from his chair.

"Stay here, okay?", Charles rushed to say and went to the customer, serving him.

He needed five minutes to make him happy and when he left, he walked back to Erik. Charles smiled apologetically at him.

"Sorry for that." - "No problem. Maybe I should go, I don't want to disturb you." Charles quickly shook his head and placed a hand on Erik's knee.

He didn't know why he was feeling so touchy around Erik, but somehow he always needed to feel the warmth of his skin.

"No, you don't need to go. Please stay", Charles answered with a warm smile and squeezed the knee.

Erik's eyes glanced down to Charles' hand and looked up again, but his gaze had changed. He looked hungrily at Charles, as if he wanted to swallow Charles. And he liked it. It gave him shivers up and down his spine.

Their eyes locked and something seem to draw them closer to each other like two strong magnets.

Charles heart was pounding against his chest and his eyes rushed to look at Erik's lips with that light scruff around them.

Just then the doorbell jingled and they broke out of their gaze. Charles blushed slightly again, standing up quickly. What was that?  
Was Charles really about to kiss Erik? God, the other man must call him weird now! Charles really hoped Erik wouldn't take any offense.

When he came back, he sat a bit farther away from Erik to avoid that situation again.

 **Erik**

Erik's palms were sweaty and his heart had never reached such pace before. He and Charles had stood so close, that he had caught the other man's magnificent scent and now it wouldn't escape his nose. Charles smelled like apples and cinnamon, with a manly touch of his own skin, and it made Erik's knees weak.

Even now when the other man was sitting further away, he could still smell him.

He blamed himself for that moment between them, and thought he should make it right. Maybe Charles hadn't realised just how close to attack him Erik was? Hopefully.

"So, how are the kids?", he asked nicely and Charles' feature relaxed instantly.

"They are good! David actually caught Moira and I fighting the other day, but now everything is okay" - "That's great. It happens you know… Nina has seen Magda and I fighting as well" - "It doesn't make it pleasant" - "No it doesn't".

They stayed quiet for a little while, until Erik asked "Is it still because she wants another baby?" - "Yeah", Charles sighed and Erik nodded.

"Why don't you want?", he tried pushing his luck. Charles just looked tired at the question. "I think two are enough. They are already a handful and there's also the money. I'm trying to save up so we can move to the suburbans and if we have another one…", he trailed off.

Charles was moving? _Charles_ was moving? His friend Charles? His _only_ friend Charles? _His_ Charles?

"Oh I see. I wanted to live on the suburbans too", he said instead of his internal freak out.

"Why don't you?" - "Magda doesn't want to, so…", he shrugged. "Yeah, Moira doesn't seem so excited about it either. It's not like we're moving tomorrow, it could take a couple years to save up enough, but she is just being difficult".

Those words soothed Erik more than he would like to admit. Ok, so Charles wasn't moving. _Yet._

His cellphone made a small beep then, and Erik fished it out of his pocket, reading it with furrowed brows, worry filling him up.

"What's wrong?", Charles asked leaning forwards, but still too far. "Nina isn't feeling so good. The teacher called, I need to pick her up", he summarized Magda's text.

"Oh", the other man let out, and it was the most disappointed sound Erik had ever heard. "It's probably nothing serious", he tried to soothe Erik.

"Probably", he answered not wanting to move, but having to.

Erik got up from the stool and smiled very softly at Charles. The other man got up too, and Erik turned away, looking around the counter and picking up a pen.

He wrote his number in a piece of paper, and stretched his arm towards Charles, who held it up and read it.

"For us to, uh… Get that chess game set. Or just to talk. If you want to", he said looking expectantly at Charles.

 **Charles**

"Thank you, Erik", Charles said softly and looked up to Erik with a smile. "I'll definitely call."

Why did it feel like they are setting up a date? Why did it feel like Charles was doing something forbidden? He was just being friendly to Erik - his friend. What was supposed to be wrong with that? A nice meeting together, playing chess, walking in the sun, kissing secretly behind a tree…

Charles shook that thought and looked at Erik who was still standing in the shop, not knowing what to do. He wanted to lean in and hug Erik, but Charles was unsure if it was appreciated. Erik didn't seem quite fond of touching if the earlier contacts were anything to go by. They had always been initialized by Charles and Erik had never put his hand on Charles' body. Besides, they barely knew each other and weren't on the hug level yet.

"Well, I'll see you then", Charles said, walking towards the door to say goodbye.

Erik followed and graciously looked down at Charles.

"Goodbye Charles", Erik said after a brief moment of hesitation. His hands raised for a tiny second, as if he wanted to pull Charles into his arms, but he then turned around and walked out of the flower shop.

Just then, Charles got an idea and quickly grabbed a single red tulip out of a bucket, running after Erik.

"Erik! Wait!", he shouted, catching his attention, but also from ten other people around him.

The tall man turned around and frowned. Charles got closer and held out the tulip.

"You can't walk out of a flower shop without flowers", Charles grinned and looked up to Erik, watching his frown turn into delight.

"Thank you, Charles", he said and then they parted their ways - Erik walking to school and Charles went back into the flower shop.

He had never felt lonely inside this little shop, surrounded by flowers and customers. Even when there were barely people in his shop on some days, Charles would just sit down and read a book.

But now he wished for nothing more than Erik's presence next to him.

He had also realised that his first instinct was to grab the red tulip and - knowing the different meanings to his flowers - he felt embarrassed. Charles hoped that Erik wouldn't find out, red tulips were a declaration of love. But how should he? He was barely interested in flowers and it had been pure instinct of Charles anyway. Nothing to worry about.

 **Erik**

'Erik!', Magda exclaimed as soon as he stepped inside the house 'You brought me a tulip? A _red_ tulip? Oh, my love!', she breathed and threw herself in Erik's arms.

He held her, but clutch the flower in his hand, not wanting to let it go. Charles had given it to Erik.

'Er… What about it?', he asked risking making her upset. She pulled away and eyed him.

'You don't know?' - 'Not really, no'. Magda broke the hug looking slightly upset.

'It's like… a love declaration' - 'A what?', Erik asked raising both eyebrows and feeling a little panic rising inside his chest. _A love declaration?_

'You really didn't know?' - 'Nope' - 'Well, at least you brought it for me' she answered with a small smile.

Erik looked at her with an open mouth and Magda's face completely fell.

'It's not…for me?', she asked with a weak voice and he hurried to explain.

'I was hm… Walking down the street to the school and uh, there was a lady giving them away' - 'Oh… Then why aren't you giving it to me?' - 'I don't know I just… Liked it, I guess'.

Magda nodded 'I see. We can just put it on a jar on top of the table then', she said. She didn't look so pleased, but wasn't hurt anymore.

'Yeah. Sounds good', he replied.

Magda looked at the couch then, where Erik had placed a sleepy Nina.

'How is she?', she asked and walked over to their daughter. While Erik walked to the kitchen to get a jar, he answered 'I think she's feverish', getting worried again.

He had all sorts of mixed feelings and thoughts running through his mind right now. He was preoccupied about his daugther, of course. But she was a child, and children often got a little sick, nothing too serious, so he would observe her through the night and if something bad happened he would take her to the hospital. One step at a time. Right now she was just feeling a little tired and warm.

And then, there were other kinds of concerns.

Did Charles mean something giving him that flower? He was a florist and he knew the meaning to them all, so he would have thought about it before picking the tulip, wouldn't he? But maybe it had just been an instinct. Or not.

The best he could do now, was wait out. He had given the other man his phone number, so if Charles wanted to meet to play chess or just talk, then he could call at anytime.

 **Charles**

The following week, the mood in the Xavier family lifted. Moira and Charles didn't fight and they even went out with their kids - the zoo, having dinner or just walking in the park and stopping at the playground.

Charles was happy and felt closer to his wife, but he also missed Erik. He wanted to call him, but it seemed like a better thing to reconnect with his wife for now. Maybe - just maybe - Charles was also a bit scared of Erik's reaction to the flower and wanted nothing more than for him to forget about it. It wasn't like Charles was in love with Erik - he was just very, _very_ attracted to him.

The days were getting colder and it would finally start to change into winter. Charles was worried they wouldn't be able to play outside anymore.

It was a calm Sunday when Charles finally decided to call Erik, hoping it wasn't rude of him to wait over a week.

The phone rang and on the third beep, Erik finally answered. "Lehnsherr?"

"Hello my friend", Charles couldn't help but smile when he heard Erik's voice. There was a moment of silence, just the rustling of the phone was heard.

"Charles?" - "Yes, hello. I hope, I don't bother you?" - "No, we were, uh, just decided what to do for today."

Charles smiled to himself, hoping that his plan would work out.

"Moira and I did that too and we were actually hoping if you'd like to come by? It's getting too cold outside to play chess, but we could have a round after dinner?", Charles suggested.

When there was another hesitant silence between them, Charles rushed to explain his intentions.

"You can bring Magda and Nina of course. I thought it would be rather nice to have them over. Nina could play with David; they do get along so..."

As if Charles was able to see Erik smile on the phone, he knew he was winning that argument.

"Okay then. We will come. When?" - "Around five?" - "Sure. Should I bring my chessboard or...?"

Charles told Erik that he had one and they agreed that Erik shouldn't bring any food - he however insisted to help with the dessert to which Charles couldn't say no.

"See you then", Charles then said, his smile already hurting his cheeks.

"Later, Charles", Erik answered and they hung up.

Charles then told Moira about Erik's decision and she seemed happy about it. He quickly retrieved into the bathroom to shower and trim his beard.

 **Magda**

"Who was that?", Magda asked with a raised eyebrow, when Erik came back from the kitchen. He had walked there when this mysterious person called and now he smiled like a fool.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach, because she already knew who had called.

So he gave him his number.

 **Erik**

'That was Charles', Erik answered a little too happily, almost missing the expression on Magda's face.

'He invited _us_ to have dinner with his family', he told her with a serious tone now and Magda raised her eyebrows 'You turned him down, right?', she asked.

'No. That would have been rude', he answered shaking his head. 'Rude? Erik, we were just making plans to go out together! I don't want to go to that man's house', she said a little too loud and Erik felt annoyance filling him.

He crossed his arms and walked closer to her, thinking that maybe his best approach was to try and show a little honesty.

Erik uncrossed his arms, not wanting to look closed off, and placed his hands on Magda's hips, holding back a sigh.

'Look, he's a nice guy who wants to be my friend. I don't have any friends, Magda. How would you feel without Francesca to talk to? Besides, Nina and David get along really well… And there's all there's to it, I promise, my love', he said with the softest voice he managed and looking her in the eyes.

Magda was chewing on her bottom lip now, and Erik knew she was starting to get a tiny little bit guilty for getting in the way of his new friendship.

'Fine. We'll go', she finally said and Erik let out a relieved breath. 'But Erik, if I see one thing I don't like-' - 'You won't. But please don't cause a scene for no reason at all, you remember the play, right?' - 'I hope for all our sakes that you're being honest, Erik' - 'I am', he answered before letting go of her hips and going to get himself ready.

Charles texted Erik the address in the meantime, and when they were on the way there, they stopped at a bakery to buy a pie. Erik wished he could have cooked one for Charles, but there simply wasn't enough time.

They reached the other man's house in perfect timing, and rang the bell at 5 pm sharp.

Magda held Nina's hand while the little girl jumped up and down, and Erik was holding their lemon pie. His stomach was turning around inside of him, and he felt nervous.

As soon as the door was open, the nervousness was melted away and replaced by anticipation. Charles was standing there with his family around him, and he looked _so_ good on that button-up, it should be a crime for him to walk around like that.

'Hello, my friends!', he said smiling widely and Erik let a tiny smile form on his lips - best not to let Magda see how happy he was.

'Thank you for inviting us', he said warmly and Charles chuckled 'Of course! Please come in', he said.

The three of them did, and Nina immediately ran towards David, the both of them already talking about playing something together.

'Make sure to include your little sister!', Moira told David and turned to smile at Erik and Magda. She stepped forward and kissed Magda twice on the cheek, saying 'Thank you for coming', before turning towards Erik and doing the same.

'Here, let me get this', she said taking the pie box from Erik's hand.

In the meantime, Charles was just pulling away from a hug with Magda, and turned to Erik, stretching his hand for a polite shake. The touch made Erik's skin tingle and he had to let go way too fast on his opinion.

'Would you help me set up the table, Magda?', Moira asked, and the other woman agreed, both of them leaving for the kitchen together.

Erik was left there with Charles, and now he didn't hold back his widest smile. He knew too well he hadn't smiled like _that_ in a long time, but right now he felt like dancing around the house.

'I'm happy you called', he said.

 **Charles**

"So am I", Charles beamed, his heart picking up its pace as soon as they were alone.

He was nervous and excited about the evening. Charles really wanted this to work out - wanting their families to get along with each other. Maybe they could do it more often in the near future if they all started to be friends.

"Let me quickly show you around the house. It's not that big", Charles said and walked into the the living room first. Erik followed him close behind, as Charles showed him kitchen, bathroom and his office. Then he pointed at the three rooms left, saying that these were the three bedrooms. He didn't want to make Erik uncomfortable by showing him the place where he and Moira slept together.

"It's a very pretty place", Erik said, as they positioned themselves in the office again. Charles was just getting out the chessboard for later.

"Thank you, my friend. But, as you know, I'd much rather move into a bigger house not so close to the city", Charles answered with a small sigh. He didn't want to think about that now.

Erik nodded, but didn't comment any further.

"Dinner is ready!", Moira called a moment later. Kids laughter cut through the air, reminding Charles why he couldn't pin Erik to his desk right then and touch him until they both came undone.

He gave Erik a weary smile and they both walked into the living room. Charles took a seat next to Moira and David, across from Erik and Magda. Nina was sitting next to Charles' son and Hannah was placed close to Moira.

The food was delicious and they ate a lot, but there was still leftovers. The kids asked to leave the table early and got the allowance.

"So, Moira what are you working?", Magda asked politely. Moira put down her fork and finished the bite she had just taken.

"I work as a policewoman", she answered, revealing some more information about her unit.

"So you bring most of the money to the house?", Erik's wife asked and Charles and Moira nodded. It wasn't uncomfortable that Moira had the better job. Charles was happy with his flower shop.

"And how have you two met each other?" - "I interviewed him for a case and well, Charles was being Charles. Meaning, he flirted a lot with me during my duty, until I finally gave in and went on a date with him", Moira chuckled and looked at Charles.

Charles however, quickly glanced up to Erik to see his reaction.

 **Erik**

Ok, so Charles was a flirt. That would explain the little touches on his arm and knee. It would explain the way he sometimes looked at Erik, the almost kiss, calling Erik hot, the red tulip. It made more sense now, knowing it was the other man's nature.

'That's sweet', Magda said and Erik was thankful she was trying to keep the conversation going, while he himself was trying to figure out what was he feeling.

'I practically had to kidnap Erik on a date. He's not so good with opening up and showing what he wants or feels, so I had to drag it out of him', she said with a chuckle. Erik knew that it didn't bother her, she just liked telling people that and he didn't mind.

But Erik was suddenly a little annoyed. At Charles. Because he was a flirt, who went around saying other men were good looking, while Erik was closed off but still felt everything inside of him. Like that great swell of desire and want.

Moira laughed a little and said 'I can see it. He's that mysterious type, kinda dangerous looking, huh?', and Magda nodded.

'Yes! Back then all I wanted was for Erik to put me on the back of his motorcycle and take me to do unforgivable things', she answered. 'Oh not me! Being a policewoman made me crave for the kind-hearted open type. The one you know will treat you good', Moira said and both women laughed.

At least they were getting along. He was avoiding Charles' gaze for now, not knowing what his own eyes were showing.

A small silence settled around the table, and Erik's gaze fell to a jar of yellow tulips on a small table next to them.

'Are those from your shop?', he finally spoke up, pointing at the flowers. 'Yes', Charles nodded.

'Those are gorgeous tulips! Yellow means cheerful thoughts don't they? It reminds me of the red one you brought home the other day, Erik', Magda said and Moira let out a small 'Aww', making everyone turn to her.

'He brought you a red tulip? I _love_ the story behind it! Are you guys familiar? Charles told it to me a while ago. It's a Turkish legend about a prince named Farhad and he was in love with a maiden called Shirin. She gets killed, and Farhad is so overcome with grief that he kills himself by riding his horse over the edge of a cliff. It's said that a red tulip sprang up from each drop of his blood. Now the flower means 'perfect love'. It's a bit depressing, but also very romantic', she said, and Erik was frozen on his seat.

'Well actually, he got it from someone on the street and wouldn't even let me hold it', Magda said with a touch of amusement on her voice, concealing how much it had annoyed her.

Erik now looked straight at Charles, looking for some kind of answer, an explanation. Giving Erik the red tulip must have been an instinct. Surely Charles hadn't thought too much of it.

'Why don't you go play that chess game you've been talking about, Charles?', Moira asked and Erik was reminded the two women were sitting right there.

'Magda and I can take care of this', she said pointing at the dishes 'And we want to gossip about you', she completed with a small laugh, and to Erik's relief, Magda smiled reassuringly, giving him permission to stay alone with Charles. Not that he needed her permission.

They both stood up from the table, and on the short way to Charles' office, Erik concluded that he should take this easy and lightly. Be a friend. Charles was just a flirt.

As soon as they were sitting across from each other, he asked 'A red tulip, huh?', his tone gentle while he studied the chessboard, thinking of where to start.

 **Charles**

"Someone from the street, huh?", Charles countered and looked up from the board to meet Erik's gaze for a brief second. To say that hearing this from Magda earlier was leaving Charles at unease was an underestimation. He was hurt when he heard that Erik had lied about who gave him the flower. Hadn't Erik said that Magda liked the flowers he made? Was that a lie?

Even if grabbing a red tulip was a pure coincidence, Charles had still wanted Erik to appreciate the flower. But now it was probably already lying in the trash, dried out and forgotten.

He changed the topic, to provide any uncomfortable conversations between them, just wanting to enjoy their chess game.

"Thank you for bringing the pie along. You didn't have to." - "No, it's fine. I said, I would help with dessert." Erik moved his first figure and Charles looked down at the board, planning all the moves he could do now.

"Do you know all the myths to the flowers?", Erik then asked, coming back to the topic. Okay, so he didn't want to let this go that easily.

"Most of them, yes. However, they are not present to my mind every time I make a bouquet for somebody. I normally look at the colors and shapes that go well with each other", Charles answered and finally made his move, looking up to see Erik's eyes lingering on him.

Charles furrowed his brows a bit, hoping that Erik would snatch out of his daze. Erik did break his gaze, but his eyes only locked with Charles' and he cleared his throat.

"So, when you gave me that red tulip…?", Erik started his question, wanting Charles to end it.

"What do you want me to say? My wife is next door, Erik. And so is yours. Why did you lie to Magda about who gave you the flower, huh?", he snapped, feeling pressured to give an answer that he couldn't promise to Erik.

He couldn't promise to love him until he died, because that's what he had already promised his wife. It was a stupid mistake to give Erik that flower at all and now he finally realised that.

 **Erik**

Erik swallowed around a knot on his throat. He didn't mean to get under Charles' skin like that, to make him snap. He just wanted to understand. He just wanted to make sure that it was all in his head.

"My wife was under the impression I can't take my eyes off you and I didn't want to upset her by keeping it. If I told her it was from you she wouldn't have let me put it on our table", he answered honestly and calmly. "I didn't want you to say anything, Charles. I was just trying to understand", Erik completed before looking away from deep blue eyes and making his next move on the chessboard.

He hadn't expected that reaction from Charles and he couldn't really read it. In all honesty, it had stung a bit to hear that tone of voice, snapping at him like a child that didn't know what he was talking about, where he was getting himself into.

"I shouldn't have brought it up", he then said apologetically, his gaze now focused on the board and nothing else, waiting for Charles to make his next movie.

"You… you kept it?", he asked, a different tone of voice now and Erik still didn't look at him.

"I guess I just liked to entertain myself thinking-" _thinking that it was for me._ He didn't complete the sentence though. "It's your turn, Charles", he told the other man.

"Thinking what?", Charles asked a little forcefully, like he wanted to rip the answer out of Erik.

His eyes snapped up then and mixed with the other man's blue gaze, that searched deep inside Erik's soul. When he spoke again, he was barely whispering, the words leaving his mouth in a sound that was too low but enough for only Charles to hear.

"Risking being punched in the face I just… I don't know, there's something about you, that makes me want to just-" - "To just what?". Erik's mouth was hanging open now, the words refusing to leave his lips. He couldn't say them out loud or it would just become too real. Too wrong.

But God, so very right. So very meant to be. So very needed and wanted.

"To just kiss the life out of you", he admitted, his eyes falling down again "I enjoyed thinking the flower was for me, that's all".


	6. Chapter 6

**Charles**

It felt like the world slowed down and everything was going in incredible, unsettling slowmotion. Charles breath was caught in his lungs and his heart had gave up on pumping blood into his system at all. So Erik had felt it too. He had felt it and he wanted to react to it the same way as Charles did. He wanted to kiss him, be with him.

Charles didn't know how he was feeling in that exact moment. Should he be happy that Erik felt the same? Or should he be sad that they can never have what they both so deeply wanted?  
After a long battle inside his mind - the silence was getting really uncomfortable now - Charles finally started breathing again. Erik looked up again, searching in Charles' eyes for some kind of reaction, but he knew how to shield his thoughts from his facial expression.

"Erik, I ..", he started, not knowing where this was going. "I feel the same way about you." There it was. He admitted his feelings and now there was no turning back.

They probably had to stay far, far away from each other now. He couldn't risk anything.

But Erik apparently was having another opinion about it. Whereas Charles was frightened to death about his feelings - them leaving him at unease and making him feel terrible, dirty and sad - Erik's whole face brightened up in happiness.

Charles could see Erik's eyes beginning to sparkle, his lips curling into a deep smile and little wrinkles around his eyes starting to form. He made a move to scoot closer to Charles, but he held his hand up and stopped the other man dead in tracks.

"Erik, what are you doing? We can't .. we can't do this. We can't", he said, his words disappearing into a silent whisper.

He felt hopeless and so terribly heartbroken. But yet, he desired to be close to Erik and just feel him. Feel the touch of Erik's fingertips on his skin, counting his freckles. Feel the lingering kiss on his lips. Feel the pleasant pain of Erik's cock stretching him.

His throat felt too small out of the sudden and he swallowed thickly, trying to bring air into his lungs again. When he met Erik's eyes again, he was sure that all his feelings were shown and there was not a single wall between them.

 **Erik**

When Erik had started to scoot closer to Charles, he really didn't know what he was planning on doing. Hearing that the other man had also felt the incredible pull between them made Erik giddy and happy, and he just wanted to be closer.

But then, Charles had stopped him and Erik snapped back to reality. Those eyes were so raw and open, it broke his heart.

"Fuck", he whispered "Fuck, I'm sorry. I… I never did this, I never cheated on my wife", he hurried to say "It's just you and your bloody british accent, your impressive blue eyes and your freckles and God, I'm sorry". He was shaking his head now, and he knew his own eyes mirrored the desperation and deep sadness he could read on Charles'.

Erik reached out very slowly and tentatively, his fingers curling around Charles' warm hand. He had been touched by the other man, and he had already shaken hands with him, but this. This was something else, he had initiated it and he was trying to put all his feelings on that small contact.

"I know we can't. But I really do want to be your friend, be around you", Erik finally said, his thumb making small circles on Charles' skin.

"Erik, I don't think that's the best idea", the other man answered and Erik's heart broke.

"I'll behave. I won't try anything, I promise", he almost pleaded, not wanting to lose this that they shared. They could still be friends.

As if to prove his own words, he let go of Charles' hand and tried a small smile. "It's not like I'm going to throw you on your desk and ravish you. We can just play chess and take it from there".

 **Charles**

Charles huffed at the last sentence and looked at Erik with incredible sad eyes. He sighed in resignation.

"Erik, it's not about what _you_ will do, but what _I_ am capable of doing to you", he finally said and met Erik's eyes with a sad smile around his lips. "Because I would totally throw you on the desk and ravish you."

He really would do that, because Charles just couldn't behave when he was around Erik. His mind was foggy and all the reasons why he shouldn't kiss the other man disappeared. But he knew, if he would do something, he would feel like shit afterwards. He would never forgive himself for cheating on Moira - his whole family in fact.

"Then I'll behave for the two of us", came Erik's answer promptly and he begged him with his eyes. Charles swallowed hard. When did this simple chess game turn into a fucking therapy session or something?  
He looked down and made his move, attacking Erik with his knight. "Checkmate in two", he whispered, not daring to meet Erik's eyes again.

"Charles please! Don't do this now", Erik pleaded and ripped his heart out of his chest. "I want to stay close to you. We can try, please let us try, okay?"

Jesus, he wanted to stay close to Erik too! He didn't want to let go.

"You're my only friend, Charles. And I know this sounds so needy, but I haven't had a friend in ages and I just need you", Erik laughed out in despair.

Charles heart shrinked at those words. Why did Erik not have any friends? He was smart and pleasant to talk with. Or was he just like that when he was around Charles?

"Okay. We can try", he finally gave in and somehow, his mind was already telling him that this wouldn't end well.

He carefully placed these thoughts into a corner, he wouldn't look at right now.

 **Erik**

Erik let out a relieved breath when Charles gave in and a small smile crept on his lips.

'Okay', he echoed and they both started setting the pieces for another match.

This time they didn't talk much, and Erik was starting to feel embarrassed for having begged like that, but he didn't regret it for a second.

They were halfway through the game when someone knocked on the door and pushed it open without waiting for an answer.

It was Moira, with Magda close to her. Charles' wife walked in smiling and went behind him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders, and she bent over to kiss him on the cheek 'How is the game?', she asked.

'I won the first one, but I think Erik is going to this time', he answered and Moira looked up at Erik 'That's impressive, no one ever beats Charles', she said.

'I will make it my life goal', Erik answered nicely, making her laugh.

Magda came close too, and rested her hand lightly on Erik's shoulder. She seemed pleased, and he was relieved. Maybe she had been expecting to find them dry humping on the floor, and seeing them just playing chess must have soothed her.

'Baby, we should go now, it's getting late', she told him 'Yeah, I'm coming', Erik answered moving one of his pieces, and he noticed Charles' eyes widening.

Fuck, poor choice of words.

'We can finish this game later', he said, seeing that leaving now was definitely the best course of action.

He got up and Magda held his hand on the way out. It was difficult prying Nina away from David and Moira suggested they should have a sleepover soon.

Magda told them to come by and have dinner at their house the next week, they all said their goodbyes and after a shake on Charles' hand, they left.

The other man touch on his hand lingered for the rest of the night, and Erik spent it wide awake thinking furiously.

Knowing that Charles felt it too was a huge relief. It was good to be as desired.

Erik was determined to prove to the other man they could be friends, and he would do his very best not to let things escalate between them. He would be good and controlled enough for both. He would keep them in line, and he wouldn't try to kiss Charles again. No matter how kissable those lips were.

 **Moira**

Moira had just finished putting Hannah down to sleep, and was now climbing on her own bed. Charles was already there so she scooted close to him, laying on his embrace.

"Dinner was nice", she started carefully and Charles hummed in agreement. "I liked Magda, and Nina is adorable", she continued and once again, her husband only hummed.

"Are you sleep?" - "Yes". She sighed. Moira really wanted to talk to Charles about this right now.

"I think maybe you shouldn't get too invested on this friendship with Erik", she blurted out, and it definitely caught her husband's attention.

"What?", he asked cracking an eye open and looking at her.

"Well it's just… there are some things Magda said, and other things I noticed…", she trailed off and Charles' embrace stopped being so comfortable, getting a little stiff.

"I don't like when you do that, Moira. Just say what you mean", he said with an annoyed voice and Moira used her elbow to hold her head up.

"I don't know, Charles. From my experience at work and the things I picked up, I just think Erik isn't very good in social situations. And you're an open book, I don't want you to be sharing everything about you when he's closed off, you'll get frustrated. I mean, don't get me wrong, he looks nice, but the man is like a wall! Why wouldn't he give Magda that flower? She said it's on their table now, and that Erik searched about how to take care of it. It just felt to me that it was the most care he showed in a long time. Would it hurt him to reach out and hold his wife's hand? Magda initiates all contact between them. It feels weird to me".

 **Charles**

"And why exactly are you suggesting to keep distance from him? Because he and his wife have problems right now? Does that forbid him to have friends?", Charles answered with an icy tone.

What was Moira thinking? Erik had been sharing a lot about himself with Charles and he didn't think the other man would ever close himself off.

"No, it doesn't. I'm just saying to be careful that he doesn't hurt you", Moira defended herself.

"Well, you made it sound like this friendship with Erik is one big mistake and the faster I break it off, the better", Charles argued and heard Moira sighing.

"Can't we have one normal conversation without fighting anymore?", she asked, sounding terribly tired out of the sudden. Charles turned his head to look at her, but her eyes were closed.

He felt bad for her. Not only because she was right, but also because she didn't even suspect a thing about Charles' feelings for Erik. She had been talking with Magda about probably both marriages and their problems, when Charles was in the next room thinking about kissing Erik senseless. A pang of guilt filled him and he leaned down to leave little, lingering kisses on his wife's face, until he catched her lips.

"Yes, we can. I'm sorry if I'm being difficult these days. But that friendship with Erik means a lot to me, so I'd appreciate if you could give him a chance", he calmly said again Moira's lips.

He saw her nodding, before pulling him down in another kiss, deepening it immediately. Their clothes were quickly removed and they both panted and moaned while the sound of skin slapping against skin filled the room.

 **Magda**

"I like them", Magda says, lying in bed with Erik and looking up to him. "Hmh?", came the bored sounding answer.

"I said, I like Moira … and Charles", she repeated, causing her husband to lift one eyelid and glance at her.

She gave him a weary smile and put her hand on his cheek. He definitely had to shave again, she thought as she felt the scruff beneath her palm.

"I want us to work, Erik. I want us to have a marriage like Charles and Moira have. Like we had at the beginning. Can we go back to that?", she asked in a tiny voice, biting her lip coyly afterwards.

 **Erik**

Erik felt his heart shrinking inside his chest and was immediately filled with guilt. What was he doing? Almost destroying his family like that.

'We can. Of course we can', he answered going in for a sweet kiss, and caressing her face, trying to take away that sad look.

When he lay on top of her, they made slow and sweet love, and he pushed all his thoughts about Charles away.

It was three days later, and Charles hadn't called. Had he changed his mind about trying the friends thing? Did he regret it?

Erik missed the other man, which was why he decided to call.

It rang twice before he picked up. 'Erik?', the beautiful british accent said and Erik's heart fluttered. His mouth hung open and his words escaped him.

'Erik? Is everything okay?', the voice started sounding worried and he tried to pull it together.

'Charles, hi', he said.

'Hey, how are you?' - 'Good. How about you?' - 'I'm okay' - 'That's good', Erik said and they stayed silent for a little second.

'I uh, was wondering if I could come by the flower shop? It's my day off. I could bring beer', he said biting his bottom lip.

He _had_ to show Charles they could do the friendship thing.

'Sure, that would be nice', came the answer after a second of hesitation.

'Be there in a few minutes, then' he said already starting to feel happier.

 **Charles**

When Erik entered his flower shop, Charles came around the counter to greet him. He had felt a bit uncertain about their friendship and hadn't called because of that, but as soon as Erik got in touch with him, he couldn't resist seeing the other man anymore.

"It's good to see you, Erik", Charles smiled and put one hand on the muscled shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"You too, Charles", Erik answered with a honest looking smile. He held up the beers with a crooked smirk and Charles laughed at that, pointing at the counter.

"Just put it there. I'm gonna close the shop for now", he said and walked past Erik to the door, turning the plaque around.

He returned to Erik who was already taking a seat behind the counter and took one beer, opening it with a click. Charles sat down on his chair and gave Erik the beer, taking another one for himself.

"Thanks", Erik smiled and they both cheered, before taking a sip.

"So, what have you told Magda about coming here?", Charles started the conversation after a moment. He rolled the sleeves of his cardigan up his arms a little, because the humid air made him warm.

"Uh, nothing. She's with Francesca today and Nina is on a playdate, so I was free", Erik answered the question and Charles nodded at that.

"What was her impression from the other day?" - "She liked you both. No, no I'm not making this up", Erik laughed as Charles threw him an unbelieving look. He hummed at that, taking another sip of his beer.

"And Moira's impression?", Erik wanted to know which immediately made Charles tense and he clenched his jaw.

"She tries to get along, because she knows that you mean a lot to me", he answered truthfully.

Moira's words were still stuck in his head and he once again wondered, if Erik had only been nice to him so far.

"She says you're closed off and you'd hurt me one day. But I don't feel like there is a wall between us when we talk", Charles continued. "No, there isn't. I can talk to you about everything, because I know you would understand me", Erik answered Charles' unspoken question.

Charles' heart warmed at that and he threw the other man a smile, before drinking from his beer again. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but it was also refreshing for the humid air in the flower shop.

 **Erik**

Erik was distracted. He was distracted by a single drop of beer dripping down from Charles' lips and falling on his beard.

He wanted to lick that drop and put his fingers through that thick, rough facial hair.

'Erik?', the other man asked and snapped him out of his daze 'Did you hear what I said?' he asked looking a little amused.

'Uh, sorry I was a little distracted… You have a-' he motioned towards Charles' mouth.

A pink, wet tongue darted out and cleaned the drop. Erik whimpered and stood up, pacing a little.

'You were saying?', he asked.

'I forgot', the other man answered and they both chuckled, taking another sip from their bottles.

'Do you think I should shave?', he asked out of nowhere, still thinking of beards.

Charles laughed a little 'What are you talking about? You're terrible at coming up with subjects' - 'I totally am', he grinned.

Charles put on a very serious, thoughtful face before saying 'Keep it, it looks good', and Erik smiled.

He stopped pacing then, and leaned against the counter, right in front of Charles. Erik nudged the other man's foot with his own.

'You come up with something then', he said.

'Should _I_ shave?', he asked and Erik laughed 'Don't make fun of my subjects' - 'I'm not! I'm curious'.

'Don't shave. And keep your hair long', he answered with a bright smile. 'But you should change your wardrobe. Cardigans? Really?', he joked and Charles got up, punching him playfully on the arm.

'Said the man who only wears turtlenecks', he said, pulling at the hem of Erik's shirt.

Charles' finger brushed the bare skin of Erik's stomach and he hissed, shivers running down his spine, all the hairs on his body standing up.

' _Charles_ , I'm trying really hard to behave here', his voice was a little lower than normal, and his gaze fell to the other man's lips.

It took all his strength to pull away from the counter and sit on the stool again.

Charles cleared his throat and turned around smiling.

'Yes, right', he said and shook his head.

They were getting on the third beer now, and Erik could feel a light buzz on his head. Why couldn't he kiss Charles?

'Oh, have I told you I can read minds?', the other one asked with a suspicious grin.

He sat on his stool and scooted closer to Erik. He reached up and touched his fingers on Erik's temple, making his skin tingle.

'Charles?', he whispered, but the other man shushed him.

'I'm trying to find out what you're thinking of', he laughed and Erik felt amusement.

'Okay, I doubt you can read me', he said and started thinking the most absurd things, a smile on his lips.

 **Charles**

Charles closed his eyes and tried to get a vibe of Erik's thoughts. When he opened them again, a small grin lay on his lips.

"You're totally thinking about how good looking I am", Charles said teasingly, making Erik laugh.

It was a rich laughter, full of joy and probably also alcohol. Charles' mind already started to be a bit foggy and he knew, when he was drunk, he'd get a bit more touchy.

He wet his lips, as he watched Erik calming down from his laughter, his fingers still on the other man's temple.

"I was thinking about a blue giraffe", Erik grinned and shook his head in disbelief about Charles' terrible attempt of mindreading.

"Lemme try again", he said and closed his eyes again. When he opened them, he wore a cheeky grin.

"Orange crocodiles", he said, but Erik simply shook his head with a pleasant smile. "Red tulips."

Charles swallowed and there was a moment of silence between them. Eventually, Erik realised his mistake and pushed Charles' hands away from his temple, just to put his own ones on Charles'. His fingers were warm on the temple and Charles almost hummed at the touch. Almost.

"Lemme try", Erik mumbled and closed his eyes. Charles looked at long lashed touching Erik's cheek and the happy smile lingering on his lips. He thought of chess games.

"Hmmh, purple tomatoes?", Erik asked, but Charles shook his head. "Try again, you can get this one", he encouraged Erik and so he closed his eyes again.

Charles' eyes flew to Erik's lips that were surrounded by the ginger beard. His lips were slightly parted and Erik's whole expression was highly concentrated.

And in that very moment - encouraged by alcohol and lingering touches - Charles couldn't restrain himself anymore. He leaned in, until his face was just a few inches away from Erik, watching the other man intensively.

"I was thinking about chess games", he whispered, giving away the answer and waiting for Erik to open his eyes.

 **Erik**

Charles' voice sounded very close to him when he told Erik the answer. He opened his eyes, and wasn't startled to find the other man's face just a few inches away from his own.

His gaze immediately fell to those beautiful red lips, and the fingers that touched Charles' temple softly ran down the side of his face, fingertips exploring the soft skin, until it reached the rough beard.

"God, Charles. Your mouth", Erik all but whispered, not being able to tear his eyes away. He had never seen such red, plush lips, that just begged to be kissed.

"What about it?", Charles asked, his chin tilting forward almost without Erik noticing.

"Fucking gorgeous", he murmured, his german accent getting thicker with want. He let his fingers finally bury themselves on the facial hair, and a small breath of air escaped his lips.

There was this small, needy sound coming from the other man's throat and Erik averted his gaze from that sinful mouth, to study all the other details now that they were so close to each other.

He noticed the freckles scattered through the nose, the long eyelashes, every different hue of blue on those eyes, the small wrinkles on the skin.

"What are you thinking of now?", Charles whispered and Erik trailed his fingers down, caressing the curve of the other man's bottom lip, his mouth parting and his breath hitting Erik's finger.

"You tell me", he answered, and Charles raised his own hand again, touching the side of Erik's face.

"You're thinking… you want to kiss me now", came the answer and Erik chuckled.

"That was easy, I'm always thinking that", he said and his finger went up a little, only the tip going slightly inside Charles' mouth, feeling the wet warmth moisting it.

The other man hummed and he closed his lips, giving Erik's finger a half kiss, half suck, that made his breath get caught in his lungs.

Charles' eyes looked darker when they met Erik's, every bit of his arousal showing through it and Erik was this close to losing himself.

"I said… I promised I'd behave for us both", he whispered then, and let his hand drop from Charles lips. He didn't pull away though, instead, Erik leaned in and touched their foreheads together.

"I don't think I can do that, Charles. I can't resist you", he said. He had honestly, really believed he could be good for them both. He could fight this strong urge. But only meeting Charles one time after his promise, he realised it was the furthest from the truth. He would never be able to stay away from that man.

 **Charles**

Charles swallowed down a sudden urge to jump on Erik, making his chair fall over and them landing on the floor. It would have ended up hurting them more than he wanted to.

Erik was so close to him - so heavenly close. Charles could feel the other man's breath hitting his lips, it smelled minty and also like beer. He wondered if Erik would also taste like that and if he would be able to find that special flavour that was just Erik. He wanted to find it, desired to know how it tasted like.

Charles' hands curled up the other man's sweater without realising it. He clung on the soft fabric, feeling the warmth of Erik's body underneath it.

"Here's what I am thinking", Charles said, his voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. His eyes fell on Erik's lips, licking his own ones unconsciously.

Then he closed his eyes again and pulled on Erik's sweater, bringing him closer to Charles. He tilted his chin forward in the same movement, mumbling "this is so wrong", before Erik's heavenly lips met his.

Their beards collided, making raspy noises as they gently moved their lips against each other.

Charles wasn't able to hold back afterwards, his grip on Erik's clothes getting possessively stronger and he brushed his tongue over Erik's bottom lip, begging for entrance. Erik invited him inside and their tongues met no second afterwards.

He let out a needy groan, as Erik's scruff brushed against his cheek, making him realise that this was actually happening. His tongue chased that special flavour that was just Erik, his nose filled with Erik's scent. His fingers brushed Erik's skin, as they slowly worked their way underneath the hem of the sweater.

How could something so wrong ever feel so good?

 **Erik**

Erik's heart was hammering inside his chest, and his senses were suddenly all heightened. Every little sound coming from Charles was being registered on his mind. Every touch, every movement, every taste on his mouth.

It was heaven and hell at the same time. It was an angelic feeling, mixed with a burning desire and blinding guilt, and he never wanted to stop it.

He felt Charles' fingers going underneath his sweater, those cold fingertips touching his warm stomach, making Erik hum in the kiss, and Charles press his palms against his stomach.

Erik's own hand was still busy with the other man's hair, so soft and silky. He was messing it up the way he had already imagined many times, and it felt so very good.

He let his hands fall down, shoving them between Charles' shirt and cardigan, curling his arms around the other man's waist and trying to pull him closer, needing more of him, of his smell, of his kiss.

Charles' hands ran upwards, caressing Erik's chest and teasing his nipples, ripping moans from his throat. Erik moved his own hands towards the other man's thick thighs and squeezed the firm flesh, wondering how it would look like with no clothes concealing it.

Erik's mouth was starting to burn around the edges where Charles' beard was frictioning against his own, and it made him even more aroused to know that the burning feeling would linger for another day, that he would still be able to feel Charles.

Their bottles were forgotten on top of the counter, making two small circles that would be stained on the wood, which Erik also noticed. Charles would look at it for now on, and remember how amazing they were together, how much they matched.

Both their tongues were fighting each other, a slow but rough fuck inside their mouths, that was leaving Erik panting and needing more.

" _Charles",_ he moaned in the small second their lips separated to meet on another angle, and moved to hold Charles around the waist again, his hands holding him underneath his shirt.

It was only a minute later that they had to stop and catch their breaths, but Erik couldn't quite stand still, so he started placing sweet, affectionate kisses everywhere he could reach.

He kissed Charles' cheeks, his chin, his jaw, his nose, his forehead, his eyelids and both corners of his mouth, before he moved downwards and started placing open-mouthed wet kisses to that long neck, letting his stubble brush on the sensitive skin after.

The sounds Charles was making were fucking delicious, and Erik couldn't help but moan every time Charles did, arousal sweeping over him only because he was making Charles feel like that.

 **Charles**

Somewhere deep inside his foggy mind, something was telling him to stop this right now. He carefully digged that thought far away, not wanting to be reminded of the consequences for his actions now.

His hands found a grip on Erik's waist, holding him strongly and digging his fingers into the skin.

He breathed through his mouth, the noises of wet kisses on his neck and their moans filling the room.

Arousal raised in his lower body and he found himself pressing Erik's hips against his, searching for friction. They both let out a deep, needy moan when their middles collided.

"Don't … mark me", Charles said out of breath, the only straight thought he was able to pull out of his dizzy mind. Erik groaned in frustration at that but was willing to obey. Charles felt the other man's hot tongue darting out to lick over the sensitive skin, his beard still stimulating his skin.

He pressed Erik against the counter, just as the other man pulled down his cardigan and shirt to have more access to Charles' skin.

His arousal started to manifest in form of a hardening dick in his pants and he felt the need to rub himself against Erik's hips. A moan escaped his throat again, as his hips bucked forward again, dry humping Erik's hipbone.

"Oh, Erik! Need you", Charles moaned, throwing his head into his neck, his grip tightening on Erik's hips.

He felt Erik's mouth wandering up again, gently mouthing his Adam's apple. Charles head fell down again, capturing Erik's lips one more time.

 **Erik**

He kissed Charles with all his will, his hand caressing the naked skin of his back, wandering down and cupping his ass.

Erik brought their bodies closer, squeezing that tight ass so strongly that Charles stood on his tip toes, and their hard dicks pressed together almost painfully.

They opened their mouths and moaned, not kissing anymore but still letting their lips brush against each other as words and sounds poured out of their throats.

"So sexy", Erik mumbled, and Charles tugged at his sweater, making him raise his arms and let the other man take the fabric away from his body. Charles tossed it carelessly away, and it landed on top of one of his buckets, covering the flowers there.

"Wanted you since the first time", he admitted and Charles nodded, his eyes dark, pupils blown letting only one thin blue line appear around it.

"Yes, yes... me too", he answered out of breath, pressing himself in front of Erik's body, making the counter dig painfully on Erik's ass.

Charles kissed his collarbone and licked a fine path over to his neck, until he reached his jaw and kissed it with an open mouth.

"I don't… I don't have anything here", the other man said and Erik immediately understood what he meant. Fuck.

He angled his hip a little, and made a small thrust against Charles' erection before answering "We have other options", and reaching down to open the other man's pant.

Erik wanted to take his time, to lay Charles down on the floor and worship his body, count his freckles, lick every inch of him. But they were too aroused too wait, too filled with want, lust and desperation.

"Next time", he breathed as he slipped his hand inside the other man's boxers and held his heavy, hot cock "We'll take this slow. I'm going to fuck you so good", he promised, pulling the erection out and taking a long, appreciative look at it.  
"Christ, Charles. Then you're going to fuck me too", he said and started pumping Charles' dick with a firm grip, as the other man moaned and reached for Erik's own pant.

 **Charles**

He had longed for so long to feel those several inches of hard cock between his fingers. Okay, granted, Charles would much rather feel that between the cheeks of his ass, but that was good for now.

Charles' head fell on Erik's shoulder and he groaned the other man's name, trying to restrain himself from leaving bite marks on the skin.

The thumb of his right hand was circling the tip of Erik's dick, teasing precum out of it and smearing it over Erik's hard on.

The humid air seemed electrified around them, sending sparks of arousal down Charles' spine. He felt so desired by Erik as he whispered sweet nothings against Charles' skin, while stroking him with a firm grip. Charles had always liked that men seem to know better what they were doing while jerking one off than women.

"Hmmh, feels so good", Charles panted, kissing Erik's shoulder and almost sucking on one spot too hard.

"Chaaaaarles", Erik moaned as Charles did a twist with his hand and he felt the other man's cock twitch.

He leaned away from Erik's shoulder to watch him caught in pleasure and need. Erik's eyes were closed and his mouth hung open slightly, head tilted backwards. "You look so beautiful", Charles said breathlessly and kissed Erik's jaw, feeling the beard scratching his overly sensitive lips.

Charles suddenly was filled with the desire to watch the other man come, losing himself completely inside his mouth. As soon as the idea popped inside his mind, Charles freed himself from Erik's grip and sunk down on his knees, looking up to meet Erik's unfocused gaze.

He licked his lips, sinfully slow, before eyeing the dick in front of him.

"You have a beautiful cock", Charles breathed and licked a bit of precum off of the head.

"Christ! Do you plan on killing me?", Erik exclaimed, a moan following quickly, as Charles took the tip of his cock inside his mouth. His tongue licked around it again, letting the flavour of Erik hitting his senses.

His own dick was throbbing against his thigh, but he had the feeling that sucking Erik off would already make him come undone.

 **Erik**

Erik was already so close to his orgasm, he was sure he wouldn't last for another minute. Charles kneeling down in front of him, looking up like that while his mouth was stretched around the head of Erik's cock was driving him insane.

His toes were already curling in anticipation and his hands found the other man's hair pulling it tightly. "Fuck", he moaned as Charles started to take him all in, inch by inch without choking.

The head of his dick hit the other man's relaxed throat, and God, it must have been years since Charles didn't do that, but he was a natural.

The other man pulled away slightly and then buried his nose on Erik's pubic hair. He hummed around Erik's erection, sending vibrations all through his body and making him shiver as he repeated his movements.

Erik's hips bucked forward, and he moaned loudly, showing Charles just how much he was enjoying that. He had imagined that moment so many times that he thought reality wouldn't measure up to his dreams, but it was so much better.

It didn't even take two minutes for him to feel the warm pool of arousal releasing itself, sparks flying all through his body, and white light bursting behind his eyelids.

"Chaaarles, I'm coming", he warned in a broken voice, and the only answer he got, was Charles hollowing his cheeks and looking up to him, watching as Erik came down his throat with hoarse moans. Erik came, and came, and came. His orgasm seemed to last forever, emptying himself on the other man's willing mouth.

He tried not to pull too strongly at his hair, but Charles seemed to enjoy a little roughness, so Erik pulled just enough to mix pain and pleasure perfectly.

" _Mein Gott,_ Charles", he moaned and when he looked down again, he saw the other man pulling away from his cock, a thin line of saliva connecting the tip of it, to his mouth.

He could also see his erection leaking beautifully, and he sank down on the floor as well, catching Charles' lips in another bruising kiss and tasting himself, as he lowered both their bodies to lay flat on the ground.

"I'm so close", Charles breathed when Erik broke the kiss and started kissing his neck and chest "Touch me, Erik… please", he begged, his british accent doing things to his inside.

Erik hurried down and pulled Charles' pants away, holding his erection in one hand, and pressing a kiss to it. "Fuck", he heard the other man saying and felt desire crawling back to his bloodstream. He would never get enough of him.

Erik licked circles around the head of Charles' cock and said "You taste incredible", before lowering himself and taking it all in. His cheeks were hollowed, and his throat was loose. Charles' cock felt heavy and warm on his tongue and Erik sucked it desperately, like it was the thing he needed most in the world.

Charles came just as fast as Erik did, the hot liquid pouring on his mouth. Erik drank it all, swallowing around the dick, the movement of his throat making Charles experience even more pleasure.

"Erik", he breathed, his back arching off from the floor, his hip snapping up and burying his cock even deeper inside his mouth, his hands holding Erik's head in place.

 **Charles**

They laid down next to each other, Erik facing Charles with his elbow steadying him. Charles opened his eyes to look at him again, breathing heavily and a smile curling around his lips. He reached out with his hand and ran it through the other man's hair gently, before pulling him down to kiss him again.

His mouth burned at the touch of Erik's beard and he almost whimpered, but controlled himself in the last moment. Their kiss was lazy and sloppy, no rush in it as a few minutes before. Erik didn't taste like beer anymore.

When Charles pulled away, he sucked Erik's bottom lip between his own lips and let it snap back when he released it.

Charles knew, as soon as Erik walked out of this shop, the little bubble he was currently in would pop and guilt would wash over him. But right now, he couldn't help but feel happier than ever.

He reached out and took a red rose out if the bucket next to them, putting it on Erik's chest.

"I think you know the meaning to this one", he whispered and kissed Erik's muscled upper arm. Erik took the rose and looked at it, examined it thoroughly while smiling silly.

"Thank you, Charles", he answered in a raspy voice that felt a bit too loud in the silent shop.

It was getting cold on the floor and so the two men decided to stand up and get dressed again. All the while, they let their bodies brushed against each other, fingers ghosting against skin, lips pecking hidden places on the map of their bodies.

When they were done they faced each other, not knowing what to do or say. It was time for the inevitable goodbye, but Charles didn't want to let go yet. Maybe he would never see Erik again.

Erik seemed to grab the rose tightly, his whole body tense. Charles swallowed thickly around a limb in his throat. He walked up to Erik, until he stood right in front of him. Then he pulled him down and pressed his lips against Erik's one more time.

 **Erik**

This kiss was practically them just pressing their bruised, sensitive lips together.

Images from their encounter were playing themselves on Erik's head, and he felt like weeping. It hadn't be enough, not even close. He still wanted more of Charles, everything.

He clutched to the other man's shirt and tried pouring in all his emotions, at the same time he drank all of Charles'.

His hands moved towards the other man's head and Erik threatened his fingers on his hair, breathing in deep before pulling away.

'Erik', Charles whispered, his eyes still closed, and lips brushing together.

He knew deep down in his heart that he should be feeling bad, that this was wrong, that he was a terrible person but none of that came close to what he was feeling.

Desperation aside, Erik hadn't been this happy every since his daughter was born. And he knew in his heart that he would seek out this gorgeous man once again. How could he not? Charles was everything wrapped in a short, compact, beautiful packet.

But Charles was also the exact opposite of Erik, and he knew the other man would start freaking out the second he walked out the door.

Erik tilted his chin forward and kissed the corner of Charles' lip gently, almost reverently.

'Don't regret this', he asked, voice low and full of emotion, feeling Charles' hands tightening around his waist. 'I want to see you again, Charles', he then said and waited for a reaction.

Charles seemed glued to the spot right now, his brows furrowed and his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Erik took one of his hands away from the other man's hair and soothed the worried crease between his eyes.

'I know…', Erik said even though Charles hadn't said anything 'But I do want to. So if perhaps you'd like to see me again… Call me. Or text. I'll come', he promised.

Charles' eyes flew open then and locked with Erik's. His emotions were right there, like an open book just waiting for Erik to read them. So he opened himself up as well, wanting Charles to do the same.

'I really want to', Charles whispered and Erik let a small smile curl on his lips 'But I don't know-', Erik cut whatever he was going to say with another kiss.

'I'll come', he said before finally letting go of Charles.

'I'll see you later', Erik finally told the other man, still gazing inside Charles' eyes.

'Goodbye, Erik', he said and it felt so final, that Erik's heart almost broke on the spot. This just wasn't the end, yet. He _knew_ it.

Charles had to call, because if he didn't… What was Erik supposed to do with the butterflies on his stomach?

He left the flower shop, and the air outside hit him full on the face, making him come down from his high.

As he walked home, he started thinking about what had just happened and he felt guilty, of course. But he didn't regret it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Charles**

The guilt didn't flash him like Charles had thought it would. It didn't crush over him like a big wave full of regret, threatening to drown him. No, it came slow and made its way through his whole body and mind in the following week.

When he had gone home that day, Moira had greeted him like always. She hadn't even looked twice at him to notice the beard burn or how askew his clothes were.

They ate dinner together with their children after Charles had taken a shower, getting rid of any sweat or cum on himself. It had been way too easy.

Charles had suspected that Moira would find out the second she saw him, already made his peace with explaining to her why certain things happened. It was so easy. Why was this so easy?

He had planned to not call Erik again. Why should he? His mind was working totally fine when he wasn't around the other man and every fiber in his body told him to not get in touch with Erik ever again. Charles didn't want to lose his family and still suspected Moira to find out any moment.

His heart however, was longing to see Erik again - feel him again. But Charles let his mind take control. He knew, he was hurting Erik, but he should understand. He needed to understand - Erik was in the same situation! But was he? He had told Charles that he shouldn't regret this, so he probably didn't feel bad about their encounter at all. Moira had told Charles that Erik and Magda had problems in their marriage - _hell_ , even Erik had told him that they didn't have sex in ages!

Maybe their marriage was already doomed - but Charles' wasn't.

He tried to convince himself that it was the best not to call Erik again, but with every day that passed it became harder to resist.

It wasn't until after a fight with Moira two weeks later, that Charles finally grabbed his phone and called the number. His stomach was boiling with rage and anger and he almost growled into the speaker, but Erik's voice immediately soothed him.

"Charles?", he heard the hopeful voice of the other man.

"Hello." There was a long silence after that, until Erik finally spoke up again.

"Why are you calling?" - "I … can I see you?", he asked in a hesitant voice.

It was like he could practically see Erik smile on the other side as he answered "sure. Want me to go to the flower shop?"

"Hmmh, I'll be there in ten", he said and murmured a small goodbye into the speaker, before hanging up.

He already felt dirty again, guilt pulsing through his veins, but Moira had been so unfair. Everything was always about what she wanted.

' _I want another baby, Charles' 'I want a big vegan cake for David's birthday, Charles' 'I don't want to move, Charles'._

She didn't even care what Charles wanted. So he decided, it was time to just take whatever he wanted. And Charles wanted Erik.

 **Erik**

Erik had spent the last two weeks consumed with guilt.

Everytime he looked at his wife and daughter he felt terribly bad for what he had done. It's not like his marriage was beyond repair for him to go and destroy it like that. It was just Charles.

He had hoped and waited for the other man to call, but deep down he knew Charles wouldn't. It still hurt to see he was so hung up on an affair like that, and that he had lost someone with the potential of becoming a really good friend.

He was startled to say the least, when he got the phone call from Charles. It made him happy, like his heart was going to burst out of his chest, to know he wanted to meet up again.

If Charles had called two weeks after, it meant that he had been thinking of Erik, surely. That he had fought the battle to stay away but just couldn't resist. It was nice knowing that the pull he felt was two-sided.

His palms were sweaty, so he cleaned them at this jeans pants standing in front of the flower shop.

The plaque said 'Closed' but there was a light on and he knew the other man was in there. Erik pushed the door open and went inside stilling himself.

'Hey', he said softly and Charles was already looking at him. It was hard reading his expression, and Erik fidgted nervously not knowing what to do. Should he shake hands with the other man? Hug him? Kiss him? It had never been this hard to approach Charles. Erik took a few awkward steps forward.

'Hi', Charles finally answered when Erik settled himself on the opposite side of the counter, both leaning a little in unconsciously.

'Been a while', Erik said looking around, not meeting those piercing blue eyes.

'Yeah, I was busy', came the answer and it all just seemed off. The air wasn't right, they weren't comfortable around each other, and it was just weird. He hated this.

Erik nodded 'I'm glad you called anyway', he said. 'Me too', Charles answered in a low tone and Erik finally looked at him.

He couldn't handle that awkwardness and leaned in to kiss the other man across the counter, wanting them to connect somehow.

There was a flicker of doubt flashing on Charles' eyes, but Erik ignored it and pressed their mouths together.

It was stiff and dry, only their lips touching, but it was still heavenly to touch the other man like that.

He felt Charles starting to melt, and opened his mouth to lick his bottom lip, but as soon as he did that, Charles pulled away brusquely, pushing Erik's shoulder to separate them.

'No!', he said almost too loud, and the look in his eyes made Erik feel like he had just been shot in the heart. 'We can't, Erik! This is wrong', the way he was saying the words made Erik feel like he was the wrong one there, that it was all his fault. But it wasn't. It took two to cheat and even after, he had kept his distance, letting it be Charles' choice.

'Why did you call me then?', he asked feeling hurt. If there was something he figured out is that he couldn't be Charles' friend ever. If the other man didn't want them to be together, why would he call?

 **Charles**

Charles ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it with mixed feelings. Why did he call? He didn't know!

He had called because he wanted Erik, he had called because he missed him. But the actual reason why he called, was his and Moira's fight. If they hadn't fought, Charles would have stayed strong and resisted to call.

And now he was in this sweet misery.

"I don't know, okay?", he blurted out, almost snapping at Erik, but trying to calm himself.

"I wanted to see you, because I missed you and after that stupid fight with Moira, it felt like a good idea", Charles explained, not even daring to look into the direction of Erik.

"So you called, because you wanted to get back at your wife?", Erik asked, sounding hurt. Charles turned around at that with wide eyes.

"No! I would never tell her-" - "This is not about her right now!", Erik snapped, before Charles could finish his sentence.

Everything went dead quiet afterwards and the two men eyed each other. And then, Charles could finally see it - the wall, the others had been talking about. Erik was closing himself off in front of Charles and he couldn't do anything but stare.

He watched as Erik's jaw clenched, his eyes turning into this cold stare and body tense as if he would be attacked by Charles any moment now.

"I am not your fuckboy, Charles. I am not somebody you can call to blow off steam and then push away like dirt. _For God's sake,_ I have feelings too, I-", Erik said and cutting himself off, when the neatly built up wall seemed to crumble. Every single word cut deep into Charles' heart and he just wanted to reach out and soothe Erik.

"I know, I know you are not. There is so much more to you", Charles tried, but Erik only shook his head.

 **Erik**

'I actually thought-', he started again, shaking his head. That right there was why he was always closed off. People hurt each other all the time. And when it came from Charles it was even worse.

He thought Charles had called because of him. Because of Erik. Not because he wanted to get back at his wife, wanted to do something rash and feel better.

Charles couldn't use him like that. Not when Erik felt so deeply for him.

He carefully put up all his walls and kept his stare as blank as he could. Charles didn't deserve seeing all the little parts of him that he kept even from his wife.

'I could say it was nice seeing you again, but it really wasn't', he said in a flat, dull tone, wanting to make Charles feel at least half as broken as he felt then.

He turned around and fled the flower shop, knowing he was never seeing Charles again. He didn't look back, not wanting to see those haunting eyes again. Not wanting to remember anything from Charles.

When the door closed behind him, he felt like crying but didn't. His walls were up, he only felt numb from now on.

He didn't go straight home, instead, he wandered around the streets until he found a nice park and sat on a bench, staring at his hands and thinking what the hell had just happened.

The important thing at that moment, was to forget about Charles. Never think of him, never talk about him, never see him.

 **Charles**

When Erik left, he took a piece of Charles' heart with him. It was so hard for him to pull off a smile when needed those following days. He tried to be happy around his kids, talking normally with Moira, but it didn't take her long to figure out that something was off.

She had tried several times to approach him, but it didn't work - he would immediately block her off and say that it was just stress from work. Moira however, didn't suspect anything. She thought, Charles was still mad because of their fight and even apologised one night. He had told her that it was alright and when she began to kiss him, he started to calm down and made love to her.

She gave him a bit of his missing heart back - he loved her after all and she knew how to make him happy. His kids added to it, when they asked for Charles to read them something or play a few hours with them. It always raised his mood immediately.

He still missed Erik and more than ever, he wanted to see the other man, call him, to apologise for his behaviour. He never did.

Charles was more than aware that if something would have happened between them now, he wouldn't be able to stop anymore - however much he felt it was wrong.

Winter came around and David's birthday came closer with big steps. The young boy was excited and kept telling his parents what he wanted for his birthday. Charles and Moira carefully took notes.

The morning of David's birthday, they set the alarm earlier than usual and went into the kitchen to get the big (vegan) cake out of the fridge and decorate it with candles. Charles carried it, while Moira opened the doors for him and they walked into David's bedroom, smiling widely.

Then they both started singing Happy Birthday, waking their son gently who beamed at them and the big cake.

"Happy birthday, Monkey", Charles said and let David blow out the candles. "Thank you!", his child grinned and hugged both his parents.

It was going to be a long day afterwards, as they had to prepare lots of food and clean the house, before the other children would arrive.

Charles however, didn't know yet that who was going to help them watch over the children later. But when Moira told him, his mouth was dangerously close to falling wide open.

 **Magda**

"We're going to watch over the children later, hun", Magda told Erik, as she walked behind her husband and hugged him in the bathroom. He had just been brushing his teeth and she put gentle kisses on his shoulder blade, as he stiffened.

"Wha-?", Erik asked, his toothbrush still in his mouth and eyeing her through the mirror.  
"I said, we're going to stay over for David's birthday party. I offered it to Moira, since we all know each other and I thought it would be nice to see them again, you know?", Magda repeated and hold the eye contact with Erik in the mirror.

 **Erik**

Erik carefully held Magda's stare and kept moving his hand brushing his teeth.

Okay so he would see Charles today. That was fine, good even. He hadn't thought about the other man in… Well, he moped for the first day after their last meeting and then completely ignored his existence.

His walls were still up, so seeing Charles today would be the same as seeing an old colleague.

He spat the foam on the sink and washed his mouth before turning around in the embrace, letting his arms circle around Magda's waist. He had been giving her a lot of attention these last few days, trying to make it up for the cheating even if she didn't know about it. He also suspected he was giving her what he had wanted to give Charles, and their marriage hadn't been that good in years.

He pecked her in the lips and said 'It's nice of you to offer', with a small smile.

They went out to buy David a gift and then had lunch on a nice restaurant before going back home.

Erik played with Nina and put her down for a nap before it was time to get her ready and go out to David's birthday.

They arrived half an hour earlier, so Magda could help Moira with the final touches, and Erik could do stuff like blowing balloons or whatever.

When his wife rang the bell, Erik was proud to see his stomach didn't turn around and he didn't feel nervous.

His heart skipped a treacherous beat when the door was opened and Charles stood there holding Hannah in his arms.

'Charles', he greeted politely and stretched his hand to shake the other man's.

Charles expression wasn't one Erik could read, and when he went inside the house he put on his best guest behaviour and acted more politely than always but even more closed off.

 **Charles**

"Ahh, Magda! Erik! It's good to see you two again", Moira came walking out of the living room, where she had been decorating the table with Charles before.

Charles watched his wife kiss the cheeks of their visitors and then crouched down to greet Nina with a warm, motherly smile on her face.

"Hallo, Nina", she tried her German and the young girl beamed at her. "David is in his room, if you'd like to play with him."

Nina let go of her mother's hand and ran into David's room, so Moira stood up again and smiled at Erik and Magda.

"Come in! We're just about to set the food on the table", she said and Charles stepped back to let them inside.

His eyes fixated on Erik who looked handsome as always. He even looked happier and one glance at Magda proved that they seemed to have made up again. It certainly hurt Charles, knowing that he still had a lot of problems going on with his own wife.

Charles said hello to Magda as well and the two women went into the kitchen to get the food ready, leaving Charles and Erik in the corridor.

The air immediately tensed up, even though Charles could see a thick wall behind Erik's eyes.

"Um, could you help me carry some glasses into the bedroom. We don't want any accidents", Charles said and Erik simply nodded at that, already starting to walk into the living room.

They didn't have much time until the doorbell rang again and the first kids were being dropped off. It began to be hectic around the house and their wives carefully watched the children. Charles was taken back by Erik almost ignoring him and he knew, today was the only chance for him to apologise. He just needed one private moment with the other man.

"Erik? Could you maybe get two more water bottles out of the basement? It's unlocked", Moira addressed Erik, because Charles had been on the toilet a few seconds ago. He still heard what she said and saw Erik walking towards the door to the basement and knew, this was his chance.

He slipped through the door, before it closed itself and followed Erik behind.

"Erik", he called, causing the other man stop dead on his tracks.

 **Erik**

He turned around in the dark basement to see that Charles was in there with him, and he didn't even realise it.

His heart was being incredibly stupid being close to Charles again, and he was fighting with every fiber of his body to not just… Pull the other man in a hug or just beg for them to be friends again.

In the morning, when Magda had told him they were coming here, Erik didn't want to refuse because it would have been so very suspicious, but in hindsight he should have said no. Things were good with her, she wouldn't find out anything. He should have just stayed away.

'What?', he asked a little colder than he meant to, but in all honesty he was very frustrated with himself. The feelings inside of him were too hard to fight.

Charles seemed taken back by Erik's coldness and he tried not to let his walls crumble down at that.

'I uh…', he started and put a hand on the back of his head, messing his long hair nervously. God, Erik knew just how soft it was.

'I'm sorry for what happened, I…' - 'There's nothing to apologise for', he cut the other man and turned around to look for those water bottles.

'It clearly seems like there is', he said and Erik heard a sigh from behind him, followed by quiet steps.

Charles was approaching him now and Erik sent him a look that said ' _Stay away'._ The other man stopped and kept staring at him.

Then, he said with a polite tone of voice 'you needed someone to help you forget your problems, I was there', Erik picked the water bottles and faced Charles.

'But you're ignoring me', Charles stated and Erik raised an eyebrow.

'This is just who I am with everyone else, Charles', he explained.

He didn't want to hear the other man's apology because Charles couldn't possibly know what to apologise for. It's not like he had acted wrong or something. He had acted on the way people with affairs did. It was Erik's own fault for letting the attraction develop into feelings.

 **Charles**

"Yes, but this is now who you are with me", Charles said and stepped closer again.

He was taken by a sudden need to be close to Erik again, a sudden urge to proof Erik that he was wrong. Erik had been wrong, when he said that Charles only needed someone to forget his problems. He needed Erik. Nothing more, nothing less.

"And what makes you so special from everyone else?", Erik asked with an icy voice, his whole body language defensive and telling Charles to step back.

But he didn't. Charles walked closer to Erik, until the other man started walking backwards. He bumped into the wall and Charles came to a stop right in front of him.

"Red tulips, chess games and long conversations in coffee shops", he gave reasons for Erik's question.

He had known it all along. He had know when he stepped in the basement with Erik - no, when Erik had stepped into his house - that Charles couldn't resist him anymore.

His feelings were too strong, his mind already foggy again just by being around Erik.

"Erik, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I've treated you", he tried to apologise again, but Erik raised a hand to cut him off.

"Stop Charles. What do you want with that apology? You know, I can't go back to being your friend", Erik said, his voice still cold but shaking a little bit.

"I want-", he started and realised, the only thing he wanted to do, was to kiss Erik now.

And so he walked the two steps separating them and pressed Erik against the wall, his lips landing uncontrollably on the other man's, teeth hitting together in a painful way.

 **Erik**

It was embarrassing to admit that it took Erik all but two seconds to give in and drop the water bottles to the floor, before circling Charles' waist and bringing him impossibly close to his body.

Erik felt the other man's arms coming around his neck and bending at the elbow, their bodies pressed so close it was like they wanted to merge.

A needy sound escaped both their throats and Erik kissed Charles angrily. He pushed his tongue inside the other man's mouth like he was throwing a punch, he squeezed his waist almost too strong to leave bruises and he was biting his bottom lip harshly. Charles took it all, and kissed back just as strongly.

He pulled Erik's body away from the wall, before shoving him against it forcefully, Erik's back hitting it like it was some kind of punishment.

Their stubble were frictioning together, already making their sensitive skin ache pleasurably and their hands started exploring underneath their shirts, touching everything they could.

They pulled away, their breaths shallow and ragged and Erik was gasping for air, his chest moving in a fast rhythm.

'I don't want to be someone for you to use', he clarified letting his barriers down for the minute. He let every little emotion show, his eyes raw and real, begging for Charles to understand.

'I'm not… I'm not using you', he answered breathlessly, like Erik's feelings had taken the air out of his lungs.

'Good', he answered. His walls were still standing there, but now they were starting to crumble down. It might take a little coaxing from Charles until Erik was completely open again, but if the other man was serious, then he wouldn't mind.

Charles smiled softly then and leaned in for another kiss. Their hold on each other was lighter now, tender.

This kiss was gentle and all lips just moving, tasting, learning.

Okay, maybe Charles wouldn't have to coax him too hard. He was already melting down just from this. He let his hand thread on the long brown locks and smiled in the middle of the kiss.

 **Charles**

Charles heard Moira calling for Erik, probably already wondering where the water bottles were and he finally pulled away from the taller man. He was still out of breath and his emotions were bubbling up in his whole body, making him glow and wear a sunny smile.

Erik was smiling too, not as much as Charles and still careful, but Charles could already see that Erik was happy.

"Meet me tomorrow here. Moira is out with the kids", he said and put one last, lingering kiss on Erik's lips, before pulling away and taking the water bottles from the ground.

"Wait, Charles", he heard the other man's voice, just when he was about to take the stars up. Charles turned around and was startled that Erik was behind him. He smiled a sharky smile, making Charles want to kiss him again.

"What?", he asked with a grin on his face. "I take the bottles", Erik said and grabbed the water bottles out of Charles' hand, pushing past him and started walking up the stars.

Charles had a great view of a tight ass in fitting jeans.

When the kids ate all the food and were playing outside in the garden - all tucked into their winter clothes, so they wouldn't get a cold - Charles walked up to Erik who was watching Nina play with David in the snow.

He let his hand brush against Erik's, causing the taller man to break his stare on his daughter and look at Charles. A small smile appeared on Charles' lips which was mirrored by Erik.

Charles couldn't even find it in him to pull his hand away, when Moira approached them, not speaking about feeling guilty. He was happy and why would he ever feel guilty about that?  
"Thank you so much for your help, Erik", Moira said, as she stood beside Charles and pressed herself against his body. He didn't react.

 **Erik**

'I'm glad I came', Erik answered, ignoring the fact Moira was clinging to Charles. Their hands were still touching lightly and he felt giddy, like he was in high school all over again, trying to make out with someone behind the bleachers and scared of being caught.

Magda came closer as well, putting her arms around Erik's shoulders and beaming at him. He really made an effort with her after he and Charles had parted ways on the flower shop, but it was so clear to him now, that no matter how much he loved Magda they didn't have half the passion he had with Charles. That fire that came alive each time they looked at each other, had always lacked with Magda.

They were watching the kids play, and Erik was the only who anticipated that little blonde girl was about to slip and fall down. His reflexes were quick and precise, so he was by her side the same second she hit the floor with her knees and started to cry.

The other kids barely noticed it, continuing to play. Erik picked her up and held her in his arms as she cried, making shushing sounds and soothing her.

'Let's see that scratch', he told her and pulled away to examine her knee. There was barely nothing there but she was still sobbing.

'What's your name?', he asked softly, feeling his heart melt at how beautiful she was 'Emma', came the answer and he smiled lovingly.

'What a beautiful name! You're so brave, Emma! You're barely hurt from the fall', he said and she stopped sobbing, only her lips trembling slightly now.

'Why don't you go back to play with your friends? There's no need to cry'. Emma nodded and seemed thoughtful for a little second.

'Will you kiss it better?', she asked coyly and Erik chuckled, ducking his head and lifting her leg up to kiss her knee. 'There. Better now?'.

Emma nodded with a smile, and Erik put her down, only then realising Charles was standing right next to him. Both their wives had started paying attention on other kids when they saw Erik had it under control and now they were a little separated.

'You handled that pretty well', he praised and Erik grinned 'Want me to kiss some places better too?', he asked.

 **Charles**

"Yes, my dick's been aching for hours now", Charles said dryly and Erik laughed.

"Of course. I'll take care of that tomorrow", Erik answered with a promising smirk and winked at Charles. "Care to drink a beer with me when the kids are gone?", Charles then asked and Erik seemed to think about it for a moment.

"Not sure, I mean... Nina needs to go", the other man then answered, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Magda can take her", Charles said in a heartbeat and looked at Erik with begging eyes. "C'mon,we haven't had a chess match in forever."

Erik laughed at that and crossed his arms in front of his chest as a cool breeze hit them. Charles pulled his cardigan closer and then Erik nodded.

"Okay, but I have to see what Magda thinks about it first", he said.

Charles nodded enthusiastically and they both walked back to their wives.

Magda immediately put her hands around her husband's neck and kissed Erik, causing Charles to look away with a sudden burn of jealousy.

"Playing the hero again", Magda said in her polish accent and they kissed once more.

Charles couldn't help but watch them, also seeing the small glance Moira gave him. He knew, she wanted him to do the same, but it hurt enough to see Erik kissing his wife. He certainly didn't want to make Erik feel the same. The doorbell rang, probably the first parents to pick up their kids, so Charles gladly took that opportunity to walk inside the house again, opening the door.

 **Magda**

Magda smiled when she stopped kissing Erik and ran her hand through her husband's hair. It was silky and she silently begged for Erik to shave his beard, so he would feel all soft.

She loved how he invested more time and effort into their marriage, making her feel appreciated again. Who knew that all Erik needed, was a friend. Ever since Charles, Erik was a total different man and Magda hoped this wouldn't change any time soon.

"I love you", she whispered, her arms still around Erik's neck.

 **Erik**

Erik had been this close to push Magda away when she kissed him, but he knew it would be really suspicious. He knew he would have almost died with jealousy if it was the other way around, but he also knew Charles understood there wasn't much he could do about it.

He heard the words she whispered to him, and wasn't hit by a wave of regret and guilt like he thought it would happen. He just felt nothing.

"I love you too", he answered back because it was the truth. But right at that moment, she wasn't the one he longed for. His heart didn't ache for her.

"Is it okay if I stay over here after the party?" - "What for?", she asked cocking her head, but only looking curious.

"Charles invited me to play chess", he explained and Magda, - to his surprise - smiled. "Of course! I can take Nina", she answered.

Erik smiled back at her and didn't try to ask if she was sick or something, not wanting to lose the opportunity to stay over.

When Charles came back from the front door, he was accompanied by two other people, who called out "Jasper!", and a tall boy ran towards them.

From there on, the bell didn't stop ringing and the kids starting going home gradually. He didn't get another moment alone with Charles, but he did tell him he was staying when they were close to their wives. Charles' smile had been rewarding and Erik felt happy. He had to remind himself of still keeping a little of his walls up, and not dive in head first. He needed to test the waters.

 **Moira**

"What was that, about Erik staying over?", Moira asked raising her eyebrows when she and her husband had a second alone at the door of their house.

"I invited him to play chess", Charles answered like it was the most simple thing ever.

But he didn't really understand, did he? Moira had just spent a whole day cooking, making decorations and taking care of dozen wild kids. It was tiring. All she wanted to do when they were gone was make herself a bubble bath and relax, while her husband took care of the kids and put them down for sleep.

Then, she wanted to crawl naked into their bed and have sex. Was it too much to ask? Now Charles had invited his friend to stay longer, meaning she would have to entertain someone else instead of taking a minute to herself.

"You should have asked if I was okay with it first", she hissed, not wanting to speak too loud and risk the other man listening to it.

"What is the problem here?", Charles asked crossing his arms. Moira sighed before answering "Nothing. We can talk later, I'm just tired, so I won't be entertaining him ok?" - "We're going to stay in my study playing", he explained and Moira nodded.

"And I'm going to take care of our children while you do that", she said because she couldn't help herself and turned around, going back to where the remaining kids were.

 **Charles**

Charles sighed at Moira's reaction. He had seen Magda reacting to it when Erik told her and wished for Moira to be just as understanding. Erik's wife had done the same thing as Moira and she even offered to take her daughter home and bring her to bed.

When all the kids were gone and Magda had just said goodbye as well, Charles walked up to Erik. His face was already showing his happiness, but also how tired he was.

"I'll have to put Hannah to sleep first. Moira will do David, but I can't make her do both. Do you want to join?", Charles asked, getting rid of his cardigan and throwing it into his and Moira's bedroom.

"I don't want to bother", Erik said politely, but Charles waved it off. "You won't."

They walked into Hannah's room, where his daughter was already lying in bed.

"Hello, princess", Charles said and sat down on the edge of the bed. He skimmed through her dark hair, making her giggle.

"I can't read something to you today, because we still have visitors", Charles apologised and his daughter automatically pulled a sad face.

"You know what I always do with my daughter when I put her to sleep?", Erik asked, talking to Hannah.

Charles' daughter shook her head and watched him with big eyes.

"I sing her a German lullaby. Would you like to hear one?" Hannah nodded and buried herself deeper into the bedsheets.

Erik sat down on the bed next to Charles and started singing in a soothing voice.

" _Schlaf Kindchen, schlaf. Der Vater hüt' die Schaf. Die Mutter schüttelt's Bäumelein, da fällt herab ein Träumelein. Schlaf Kindchen Schlaf."_

Charles glanced from his daughter to Erik who was looking at Hannah. His eyes were soft as he watched Charles' daughter and he knew, Erik remembered Nina being as old as Hannah. Now, his daughter was probably changing her night time rhythm and his singing wasn't appreciated anymore.

When Hannah was finally asleep, they walked out of the room, closing the door quietly.

"You have a beautiful voice", Charles said with a lowered volume, not wanting his daughter to wake up again.

 **Erik**

"Thank you", Erik breathed, feeling a little self-conscious. He loved singing for his daughter, but for other people to hear it, made him feel a little embarrassed.

His cheeks felt hot and Charles chuckled, obviously noticing it. "Shall we?", the other man asked, cocking his head to point at his office.

Erik nodded and they walked towards the room, closing the door behind them. It was simple and effortless for them to just sit across from each other and start to set up the pieces. They didn't spend any uncertain time staring at each other, thinking of what to do next. They honestly just wanted to stay close and play a little, enjoying their companies.

After Charles had done his first move with his white pawn, Erik reached out moving his own, and said "I'm sorry about, uh… the kissing", still feeling a little bad.

"It's okay. I guess we have to get used to it", the other man answered not looking pleased. "I know. I just wouldn't have liked it the other way around" - "It wasn't nice, I'll give you that", Charles said studying the board.

After he made his next move, he looked up to Erik "Did you guys make up?", he asked and Erik shrugged.

"I've been nicer to her lately, I think she's happy", he said "What about you and Moira?" - "We're having ups and downs", Charles answered.

They were both silent for a little after that, solely focused on the game in front of them. Playing with Charles was challenging, and sometimes they just needed to give all their attention to the board, before being able to speak up again.

"You said she's happy. Are _you_ happy?", the other man broke the silence, and their eyes locked. "I am now", Erik answered honestly. His hand itched to reach out and hold Charles' fingers between his own, but he couldn't yet. And that subject was getting too personal already, and Erik wasn't ready to be so deep with Charles, so he changed it, wanting to make things lighter and protect himself.

"The party was a success", he commented looking at the set again and calculating his next move.

 **Charles**

"Oh yes it was", Charles granted Erik the change of the topic. He didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, talking about his private life with Magda. It wasn't any of Charles' concerns and he knew it.

."All kids are happy, David has all the presents he wanted, I got mine", Charles grinned and Erik looked up with a small smile.

"When is Nina's birthday?", he asked, playing with a threat that was hanging from the hem of his shirt.

"In May. It's your turn", Erik answered and Charles looked at the board again.

He quickly sat his knight at D4 and stood up from his chair, walking to the wooden door of his office.

"What are you doing?", Erik asked, but his question was answered by Charles simply locking the door and walking back to him.

"Okay, what are you doing, Charles?", Erik tried again, this time sounding even more confused.

Charles simply chuckled and sat down on the couch next to Erik, rather than on the chair, he'd been sitting on before. He pressed Erik's body, with a hand on his chest, backwards until he leaned against the back of the couch. Then he snuggled up to him, nuzzling into the crook of the other man's neck and breathing in the scent of Erik. His hands rested on top of Erik's chest and he pecked the skin on Erik's neck gently.

"I just want to be close to you", he murmured, his long hair falling into his face, but he couldn't find it in him to care.

 **Erik**

Erik felt himself melting, and completely gave in to the embrace. His arms rounded Charles' body, one of his hand flying towards the other man's face to push that soft hair away from it.

He kissed the top of Charles' head repeatedly and let his hand wander up and down his arm on a gentle caress, while the other man's fingertips were drawing silly patterns on his chest.

Erik breathed in that manly scent, mixed with cinnamon and apples and thought that it felt strangely like home.

"This is nice", he said, forgetting completely about the chess game. Charles only hummed in approval, and Erik let his fingers thread through his long hair, massaging the scalp and making the other man purr.

"Hmm.. you make the best noises", Erik said softly, his eyes fluttering shut as he let the sounds coming out from Charles take over all his senses.

"You make the best massage", he answered, making Erik chuckle. "I really do have a talent with my hands", he joked and Charles snorted.

"You'll have to prove that sometime", was the answer.

Talking with Charles was like a nature to him. There wasn't any awkwardness and Charles was never hurt when Erik made fun of him. In fact, he would tease Erik back just as badly, and they would both end up laughing. It made Erik feel peaceful and happy.

"What time should I come by tomorrow?", he asked already craving the time to come.

"In the evening. Moira is going to a friend's house with the kids", Charles said and Erik nodded.

"Should I bring…?", he trailed off a little unsure. Charles lifted his head then, and rested his chin on Erik's chest. It hurt a little, but he never wanted the other man to move. He locked eyes with him, and saw amusement in the blue orbs.

"Oh, why Mr. Lehnsherr, do you plan on throwing me on my desk and ravishing me?", he asked with laughter in his tone of voice. Erik only snorted and rolled his eyes so Charles continued a little more seriously.

"I only hm… with my wife, so I'm clean", he said and Erik nodded "Me too". Charles smiled a little.

"But you should bring lube. Just in case, of course" - "Of course", Erik said and kissed the other man's forehead. Just in case.

 **Charles**

Only when the distant sound of Charles' grandfather clock was mixed with footsteps pacing in front of his room, they both realised how much time had passed. It was almost past midnight and both men had work tomorrow. Charles reluctantly freed himself from the other man's warm embrace and stretched his tired muscles. Erik did the same and both men got up, Erik searching all his things and Charles putting the chessboard back into his shelf again.

He didn't want to risk speaking now, not knowing if Moira was still outside the room. Instead he settled with tugging Erik closer by his shirt and kissing him gently. A shiver ran down his body as he felt Erik close to his body and he didn't want to let go.

But they did and they smiled silly at each other, before Erik grabbed his stuff and they both left the room.

Moira was indeed standing not that far from the office, looking a bit annoyed, but putting on a polite smile as Erik wished her a good night.

"See you", Charles said, nodded at Erik. "Yes. Goodbye, Charles."

Erik walked out of the door and Charles turned to walk into the bedroom. He was tired and wanted nothing more than sleep. He mechanically striped down to his boxers and crawled underneath the sheets.

Moira went into bed a moment later and she started kissing his shoulders.

"Moira, I'm really tired", Charles said exhausted and turned away from his wife.

 **Moira**

Moira froze in the middle of her kisses and stared at the back of Charles' head. Unbelievable! She had waited for _hours_ while her husband had played chess, only to be turned down? No.

She tried again, kissing Charles' naked back, and sucking on the skin.

'Moira', he said in a warning tone and snuggled even further down on the mattress before Moira could even mark his skin, pulling the sheets on top of him tightly 'I said I'm tired'.

'Yeah, I heard', she answered, her voice sounding strange to her own ears.

Ever since Charles had started socializing with Erik, she had been worried about her husband. What she hadn't expected was for his behaviour towards her to become the same as Erik's towards Magda.

Except that now the other couple seemed good, Magda looked happy. Moira sighed and felt jealous of the other woman, - something she thought wasn't possible.

She let her body fall to bed again and didn't try to conceal her sigh. Charles didn't turn around to fix it, and eventually she fell asleep, feeling frustrated, angry and sad.


	8. Chapter 8

**Erik**

Waking up the next morning, Erik felt giddy. He was excited to meet Charles after work and his thoughts through the day were focused on that.

He left home giving Magda a chaste kiss on the corner of her lips, and turning away before she could try to kiss for real. Then, he made the forty minutes way to work, catching the buses packed with rude people. His boss was in a bad mood when he arrived, and he yelled at all the employees in general, but Erik still felt giddy.

Lunch break came and he fought hard the urge to call Charles, not wanting to come across as clingy, and trying not to reveal all his feelings to have them crushed later. But God, he wanted to have lunch with the other man. And dinner. And breakfast. And every meal ever invented.

The afternoon went by achingly slow, and when was finally time to leave, Erik almost ran from his building.

He stopped on the way to buy them what Charles had asked the night before, and then proceed to walk the short path to the other man's house.

It was dinner time now, and Erik was hungry but couldn't find it in him to care. What he did care about though, was the fact he was wearing his dull, awful grey overall, and a sudden wave of uncertainty and embarrassment hit him. He should have gone home first, taken a shower, changed clothes. But that would mean he would lose precious time with the other man and that couldn't be.

When he rang the bell, he was pleased that he at least refrained himself from too much handy work and wasn't smelling bad at all. He still smelled clean, his cologne faint on his skin. He might be a little sweaty though. Fuck, he should have gone home first. Should he go now? Charles wouldn't appreciate a sweaty, badly dressed and tired looking man on his house.

But the door was already opening, and he realised it was too late to flee now. He just hoped he didn't look too awful for Charles not want to be close to him tonight, he was craving for his touches.

 **Charles**

A big smile appeared on Charles' face when he opened the door. He was dressed in his usual cardigan with comfortable jeans and a white v-neck. When he saw Erik, he almost laughed at how fast the other man must have hurried here. He didn't even leave himself time to change.

"Come in", Charles smiled and opened the door a little bit more for Erik. He watched as Erik walked inside, uncertainty written all over his face. It made Charles' heart stop and an unsettling feeling rushed through him. Did Erik change his mind? Was he about to leave Charles hanging just like he did last time?

"What is it?", Charles asked carefully, leaving the door open just in case Erik wanted to flee. He couldn't capture him in here anyway.

"It's … it's nothing, I uh- … I'm sorry I couldn't change", Erik stuttered and a rush of relief ran through Charles' body. He was just feeling unwell because of his clothes.

Charles closed the door at that and took a step towards Erik. He put his hands on the other man's waist and pulled him closer, until their mouths were only inches apart.

"I think this overall makes you look really sexy", he murmured against Erik's lips and watched him frown in disbelief. Charles' hands creeped up to Erik's chest and lay flat on the surface, feeling a steady heartbeat underneath the fabric.

"I like that hard working type of you. When you are still in work clothes, smell like oil and sweat and fingers feeling rough on my skin", he whispered, lips touching Erik's with every second word. Charles felt Erik melting completely against him, so he tilted his chin forward just a little bit more to catch the other man's lips completely.

Their tongues started fighting a merciless fight, teeth grinding together. Charles thought Erik's hands were wandering all over his body, everywhere at once. His own hands worked on the zipper of the grey overall from Erik at his front. He suddenly felt like everything was going in slow motion, when all he needed was to feel Erik as fast as possible. The zipper worked against him, always tangling with the fabric.

"Did you bring the..?", Charles asked and already felt the other man nodding enthusiastically into the kiss. He pushed Erik backwards, until they hit the edge of the couch in the living room. Erik lowered himself on it and Charles followed immediately, pressing his body flat on Erik's. All the warmth was filling his body, making him crave the other man's touch on his bare skin.

"Touch me with your rough hands. I like that, Erik, I love that", he murmured into Erik's ear, kissing every available place there and sucking his earlobe into his mouth.

 **Erik**

Erik groaned with Charles' words, and he could already feel himself getting hard inside his underwear.

He used his hands to slip the other man's cardigan out of his body while he kissed and licked Charles' jaw, his ear still being attacked.

He moaned at the caress he was receiving and shoved both his hands underneath Charles' shirt. He let his fingers skim on the smooth skin, feeling it's warmth and firmness, using his nail to scratch lightly.

He ran his fingers upwards and teased Charles' nipples, pinching them and making them hard. He knew for experience that women tended to ignore them, but it felt so very good when they were touched and bitten.

Charles moaned lowly on Erik's ear, and suddenly their clothes were too much. He tugged at the white v-neck the other man was wearing, and Charles promptly sat up, straddling Erik's lap and removing the fabric.

Erik's hands flew up, holding Charles by the waist. He didn't get the chance to actually look when they were in the flower shop, but he wouldn't make that mistake now.

Charles' stomach was firm and had the shadow of his muscles visible, his chest was strong and hairless with two small, brown nipples. On the other man's collarbone there were golden freckles scattered, and Erik felt his mouth watering.

'Fuck, Charles. You're beautiful', he whispered, his voice sounding raspy and full of lust.

Charles' smile was gorgeous and a little devilish, followed by a sexy lick on his bottom lip. Charles moved his hips then, making a circling motion with it, causing Erik's eyes to almost flutter shut with the pleasure that shot through his spine.

'Always wondered how you'd look like underneath me', Charles murmured, lowering himself so their chests were touching, and with each time he circled his hips, the outlines of their cocks would brush each other.

'Yes', Erik moaned, his hands going towards Charles' ass underneath the pants and grabbing both cheeks forcefully, pressing him down and adding to the friction between them.

Erik catched those gorgeous lips in a filthy kiss, his tongue fucking Charles' mouth in the way he wanted to fuck the other man, and Erik's hips were almost leaving the couch, to meet Charles halfway.

They parted to breath, and Erik moaned loudly when he took a look on Charles' lustful face. His pupils were blown wide, his lips were plush and even redder because of the beard burn, and his hair was standing in every direction.

'Need you', Erik murmured with a hoarse voice, and moved his hand to open Charles' jeans.

 **Charles**

Charles leaned down again, his hair brushing Erik's cheek and making his nose crinkle from the tickle. Their lips met again, kissing each other painfully slow, while Charles felt Erik working on the zipper of his jeans. Charles managed to open the overall and started pushing it off Erik's shoulders, leaving the other man's lips for that. His own pants finally opened with a small pop and he felt Erik's hands immediately cupping his dick through the underwear.

Charles let out a needy moan, pushing himself into Erik's palm in search for friction. His whole body started shaking in anticipation and he soon sat up on Erik's lap again to undress them properly.

When Erik was lying beneath him, body totally exposed and dick pressing hard against his hipbone, Charles took his time to examine the other man's body. He traced his muscles on his stomach with his lips, following the thin line with his tongue, causing Erik to arch off the couch. He felt a smear of precum rubbing against his navel with that movement and looked down.

"Hmmh, want you so bad", he murmured and grabbed Erik's cock, stroking it firmly.

Erik moaned loudly, fucking himself into Charles's fist which only turned him on even more.

"Are you a top or bottom?", Charles asked breathlessly and kissed Erik's collarbone, careful to not suck too hard and leave a mark on the skin.

 **Erik**

Erik whimpered, his hips moving on it's own accord trying to get more of that heavenly friction.

'I can be both', he answered and his hands found Charles' hair, tugging at it so the other man would come closer and kiss him.

Charles did so, but when they were almost about to kiss, he whispered 'Fuck me, then' and sealed their lips together.

Erik was achingly hard and those words, matched with Charles' hands were almost enough to make him come, but he held himself.

He sat up on the couch, Charles moving his legs so they were around Erik's waist and kissed the other man hungrily.

'You can't wait to have my cock inside you, huh?', he asked teasingly and Charles laughed as their hands explored each other's body. 'I really can't', he answered hotly, his mouth kissing Erik's neck and making him shiver violently.

He reached for his overall on the floor, almost causing them to fall, and retrieved the bottle of lube with anticipation filling his body, making him nervous.

'I wanna feel you inside of me when I sit down at work tomorrow', Charles said and Erik bit down on his shoulder lightly, licking the spot afterwards.

'Christ, I wish I could mark you… Make you all mine', Erik confessed, his fingertips trailing down Charles' spine. Then, he flattened his hand on the shorter man's back and pulled him even closer, their cocks touching.

Charles moaned and threw his head back when Erik lifted his hip a little, making their erections slide against each other. He opened the bottle of lube behind Charles' back and poured it on one finger.

Then, he used his other hand to hold one cheek of Charles' ass and spread them apart, opening the way.

Erik looked up from Charles' cock to his eyes, desire almost clouding his vision and said 'But there are other ways I can make you mine', before guiding his finger to the other man's entrance and slicking it with the lube, while just circling the hole and teasing sinful moans out of Charles.

 **Charles**

Feelings the cold lubricant at his hole after such a long time was weird but somehow in a nice way. He immediately pressed against Erik's fingers, making one slip inside him and stretched that tight ring of muscle. Charles moaned a little and bit down on his lips, his sight starting to blur out from pleasure.

"You're so tight", Erik hisses and slowly started fucking Charles with one finger, his knuckles pressing in and out of Charles.

"More, please", Charles begged, his anticipation almost killing him, as he pressed himself down on Erik's finger. He felt Erik's lips connecting with his nipple, sucking on it and making Charles hiss.

Another finger pressed inside of him, causing Charles to close his eyes at the sudden stretch. It didn't take long for him to adjust though, thanks to several college experiences.

Erik was scissoring him open, until he brushed against Charles' sensitive spot, making him arch his back.

"Fuck yes! God, Erik! I need you, now please, now", he groaned and opened his eyes again, giving Erik a lustful glance.

Erik stared at him, his iris widened in pleasure and lips parted. Charles felt Erik's fingers gently slip out of him and then the other man positioned himself.

"Fuck me, Erik", he growled, pulling the other man to kiss him.

 **Erik**

Erik kissed Charles desperately, turning them around and pressing him down on the couch, his hands hooking under the other man's knees and guiding his legs around his waist.

He slicked his dick up with lube and precum and didn't part from the kiss while he guided his cock towards Charles' entrance.

The tip reached the tight hole and Erik whimpered inside the kiss, barely believing this was happening. He pressed forward, the head of his dick breaching Charles open and slipping inside achingly slow, stretching the tight, hot entrance.

They weren't focused on the kiss anymore, their mouths only touching, their breaths mingling between their faces, and Erik kept pushing forward, making Charles take him inch by inch.

He knew the other man didn't do that in years, so when he settled himself completely inside, he paused to give him the chance to adjust to the intrusion.

Both their foreheads were covered in sweat, and their bodies were shaking with the sheer power of their pleasure. Erik started moving his hands all over Charles' body, until he captured the other man's own hands and pulled them up, pinning them together on the couch.

He used only one hand to hold Charles' wrist above his head, while the other one traced patterns, brushed over nipples, scratched pale skin.

His lips were attached to Charles' neck, kissing and sucking, while he could feel the other man's erection pressing on his own stomach, making Erik's skin there wet with the precum.

'Move, Erik, please', Charles pleaded and Erik groaned on the crook of his neck, before pulling his hips back and snapping it forward, burying himself deep inside of him.

'So tight', he breathed, his voice cracking and Charles moaned, his hands still trapped above his head.

 **Charles**

Being taken by Erik like this, his cock hot and throbbing inside Charles, was the best feeling ever. He was completely Erik's, trusting him that he would take care of Charles. The sweet, painful stretch in his lower body giving him chills.

"Hmmh, you feel so good", Charles moaned and moved his hips, so Erik could thrust deeper inside of him.

He felt pleasantly full and the skin on skin contact burned like fire, creating a pool of heat in his abdomen. Sweat covered their bodies and causing their skin to glitch against each other.

Erik's belly rubbing against Charles' cock was frictioning it in the perfect way, teasing precum out of it with every thrust.

"Harder, Erik", Charles begged and Erik followed his orders, pushing deeper and harder inside of Charles. Their skin slapped against each other and moans filled the living room.

Charles wanted to move his hands, but Erik kept pinning them over his head and so he leaned off the couch.

"You like that?", Erik asked with a raspy voice that sent shivers down Charles' spine. "Hmmh", he said, unable to form words anymore.

His eyes fluttered shut as his orgasm started to built and he let himself completely fall into Erik's arms, Erik's touch, Erik, Erik, Erik.

"Oh, yes! Yes, there Erik", he whined, as Erik hit his prostate and he saw stars.

 **Erik**

He was overwhelmed at how hot Charles was when he hit the bundle of nerves inside the other man's body, making him clench his hole painfully around Erik's cock.

He let go of Charles' hands and lifted one of his legs over his shoulder, angling himself even better, deeper, and thrusted into him with crazy abandon. He gave as hard as he could, hitting Charles' prostate with each movement, and feeling his short nails digging into Erik's arms.

'Oh, Erik, Erik', he chanted and Erik threw his head back, murmuring with a raspy voice 'You're fucking delicious, Charles'.

The other man's hips were meeting his halfway, but there was no rhythm anymore, only harsh thrusts that filled the room with slapping sounds.

'Touch yourself', Erik commanded and the sound that came out of Charles' mouth almost made him lose it.

Charles' hand sneaked down and he held his hard, heavy cock inside his fist, pumping himself fast and firm.

'Fuck, yes… Hmmhm I'm coming', Charles said, his eyes shutting close, his mouth hanging open 'Eeerik', he breathed and Erik wrapped his hand around Charles' helping him stroke his dick.

The warm liquid poured over their fingers and Erik gasped as Charles' hole got impossibly tighter around him, coaxing him to his orgasm.

'Come for me', Charles said, his voice broken and barely above a whisper.

Erik made to pull out of the other man, being too close to his own orgasm, but Charles' feet dug to Erik's back, stopping him from moving.

'Inside of me, I wanna feel it all', he said and God, he was still leaking from his dick, his own orgasm still lasting.

Erik groaned and maneuvered them around, - not wanting to make the couch dirty - making Charles sit on his cock and moan. Erik was buried so deep, that his orgasm overcame him and he spilled his release inside of Charles' body.

He threw his head back and felt the other man's lips on his throat, heightening his pleasure, making Erik scream his name.

 **Charles**

Erik filled Charles up centimeter by centimeter, warm cum already dripping out of his whole, while Erik still pours into him. Charles hummed at the feeling, closing his eyes and still kissing Erik's skin everywhere he could reach.

When Erik finally seemed to come down from his orgasm, Charles slowly lifted himself up from Erik's spent cock, hissing at the sudden lack of stretch. He got up and went into the bathroom, returning with washing cloth and cleaning Erik and himself up. Erik lifted his head a little at the touch and smile at him, before his hand darted out and caught Charles by surprise when he pulled him on top of Erik again.

"So, you're an after-sex-cuddler?", Charles asked teasingly and snuggled himself into Erik's arms. He felt the other man's rough hands caressing his back and kissed his shoulder gently in return.

"Not really, but I don't want to let you go so soon", Erik answered to which Charles hummed in agreement.

"Are you hungry? You must have come here straight from work", Charles asked and just as if Erik's stomach grew his own ears, it started to rumble. Charles laughed at that and lifted his head to look at Erik who blushed slightly.  
"Maybe", he said and Charles kissed him just because he could.

"How about some leftover chicken? I can't offer you much, I'm afraid. We can't eat all the food in the house", Charles suggested and Erik quickly nodded.

"I'm fine with chicken, but let's lie here for a little while longer", Erik answered, so Charles put his head back on the other man's chest, listening to the steady heartbeat.

 **Erik**

One of Magda's complains about Erik was that after sex he would either fall asleep, or get out of bed. It just got too warm and sweaty for him to stay there hugging, and he always felt crowded.

But cuddling Charles after mind blowing sex was definitely something he could do for his entire life. The smell of sex was heavy in the air, - they should do something about that - and their bodies were sticky even after Charles had cleaned them up, but Erik found there was no place he would rather be.

'That was good, huh?', he asked feeling a little smug. He had watched Charles' reactions and he knew the other man had enjoyed it just as much as he did.

'Hmmh', Charles agreed 'I've been fucked back in the day, but what we just did was something else', he answered and Erik kissed the top of his head 'Yes, it was', he agreed.

He suspected it had felt incredibly good and different, not only because of their compatibility but also because of their off the charts chemistry and passion.

Erik's stomach grumbled again, and they had been cuddling for five minutes now. It was probably time for him to go, not wanting Moira to find him there even if they were just playing chess or something. She hadn't looked happy when he stayed over the last day, but to be fair it had been a tiring day and he had monopolized her husband.

'Okay, I think I'm starving to death now', he finally said and Charles chuckled looking up at him. They kissed slowly, their hands wandering everywhere on the naked skin, and breathing deep each other's smell before getting up from the couch and dressing up again.

Charles only put on his underwear, claiming he would take a shower after Erik left. He nodded and thought about how much he would like to join Charles on that. Maybe they could rent a hotel room sometime.

The other man heated the chicken for them, and it's scent filled the house, banishing the sex from the air.

Erik ate hungrily and Charles placed a warm hand on his thigh, played with his hair, pressed their feet together. He made sinful noises eating, and a show of licking his lips clean each time he swallowed the food.

'You're going to give me blue balls', Erik complained half-heartedly and Charles laughed carefree, but continued the teasing.

Erik played too, his mind feeling foggy and content, enjoying both the sex and the afterwards where they hugged, talked and ate together.

After they were done eating, Erik helped with the dishes and his smile started to falter a little, knowing it was almost time to go. Charles pressed himself against Erik and kissed his shoulder gently, saying 'I know', before letting go.

He walked Erik to the door and they stood there.

'How do I look?', Erik asked inspecting himself. 'Edible', Charles answered making Erik snort. 'I mean it, Xavier. How shagged do I look?'.

He put on a thoughtful face and said 'Very well shagged, I would say', and reached over to smooth down Erik's hair.

'Do I smell like sex?', he asked and Charles smiled, coming closer and nuzzling his neck. 'Why do I feel like you're just asking this to get compliments?', he laughed on the skin there and Erik shivered.

'You smell very good. Not like sex at all', Charles answered and Erik kissed his temple.

'Let's take a shower together next time, yeah?', he asked and Charles nodded.

Fuck, he was dragging it on wasn't he?

'I'm going now', his hands wrapped on Charles' hair.

 **Charles**

"God, I really don't want you to go", Charles answered, but let go of Erik with a sudden impact. They smiled sadly at each other and Charles grabbed the doorframe forcefully.

"Text me, alright?", he asked and Erik nodded, wrapping his arms around himself. Charles almost jumped and caught him in his arms again, but then Erik turned on his heels and walked away. He didn't look back once which was probably better.

Charles closed the door when Erik was already around the corner of the street and sighed with frustration. Why would life be so unfair and show him his perfect partner ten years too late?

He started cleaning up mechanically, before he walked into the bathroom and took a steamy shower. It wasn't long, until his family came back and his children demanded all his attention.

 **Magda**

Magda greeted Erik back home, pulling him into a warm embrace and kissing him gently.

"You totally need to shave, Lehnsherr", she joked, but Erik seemed to get it the wrong way.

"Why? I like it", he said coldly and she was taken back by his attitude.

"Of course. Whatever you want", she answered before retrieving into the kitchen.

She silently begged for Erik to walk up behind her, hugging and kissing her and saying he was sorry.

Nina ran to her and asked her to help cooking, so she put her on the counter and told her how to cook pasta.

 **Erik**

Erik really hadn't meant to snap at Magda when she told him he needed a shave, but he was on edge. He liked his beard, Charles liked it. That was all he needed to know.

He sighed and went to the bathroom to take a shower and wash away all residue from his encounter with the other man. While in there, he let his mind free to wander and relive every single second they had spent together. He already missed Charles.

On the way home, he had thrown away the little bottle of lube, not knowing where he could possibly hide it. Magda had a talent to find hidden things, and if there was something he could not explain, it was an used bottle of lubricant.

He vowed to buy an even smaller one next time, or maybe just use the whole thing, and that thought made him smile. He wasn't a teenager who could go on three times in a row and then again an hour later anymore, but with Charles he had a feeling his stamina wasn't going to be a problem at all.

It was surprising to him that he wasn't feeling guilty about the whole thing yet. Maybe he never would because he couldn't bring himself to regret something that made him happier than he had been in a long time. A thought crossed his mind, and left a bitter taste on his mouth, making Erik wonder why in the world he didn't meet Charles a few years back.

When he left the bathroom, he dried himself and put on sleeping clothes before going to the kitchen. Magda and Nina were already having dinner, and Erik wasn't hungry but he poured himself food anyway and sat with them.

Later, after he had put Nina down for a nap, he crawled underneath the sheets, feeling satisfied and tired. His thighs burned a little from the effort and roughness he had put when he was fucking Charles, and it ached beautifully.

Magda followed him to bed shortly, and she lay on her side facing him.

'Is there something wrong?', she asked in a low tone and Erik felt bad. It was all wrong and it wasn't her fault that he wanted someone else to be there with him. 'It was just a long day', he answered tiredly.

'You got home late today', she commented studying his face closely 'Yeah, I missed the second bus and had to wait longer'. She nodded at that, and seemed to understand that he was in a bad mood because of it.

'When are you seeing Francesca again?', Erik asked. 'In two nights, why?', she turned to lay on her belly, a little closer to Erik.

'I wanted to invited Charles over, if that's okay', Magda seemed to brighten at that, and Erik just couldn't understand what had changed, but he was definitely not asking.

'That's good. I'll take Nina with me… Can you work dinner out and stuff?' - 'Yeah, I can' - 'Great!', she answered and got closer to kiss Erik's jaw.

She knew he wasn't in a good mood though, so she didn't try to start anything.

In the morning, he left for work in a rush, and was swept away in a project until lunch time.

When Erik was finally sitting on his usual bench, he picked his cellphone and finally texted Charles.

 **[You]**

 **Can I call?**

The answer came in a heartbeat and he smiled as he dialed the numbers.

'Did we succeed in making you think of me whenever you sit?', he asked as soon as Charles picked it up.

 **Charles**

Charles laughed into the phone, rich and happy. He was feeling giddy when Erik had texted him, while he was working on a bouquet in his shop. There were no customers in the shop, so he had time to call.

Hearing Erik's voice was making him feel warm inside and he couldn't help a deep smile spreading over his lips.

"I certainly think so", he answered in a chatty mood. Charles sat down on the chair behind him and tested it. "Yep. Feels raw", he grinned into the phone.

"Good. How are you?", he heard Erik asking and shook his head after such an innocent question.

"I'm good. Missing you. Do you want to come by?", he asked, hoping the other man would say yes.

"I'm sorry, I can't right now. But would you like to come over soon? Magda is seeing Francesca and I asked her if she's alright with inviting you over. You could stay for dinner?"

Charles thought about that, knowing that Moira would disapprove of missing dinner with family. But right now, he couldn't care less.

"Sure. When?" - "I'll text you the time. It's in two days", Erik says and Charles marked it in his calendar.

He was already starting to feel excited.

"Marked. Should I bring the lube this time?", he grinned and heard Erik laughing on the other end.

"Yes, please. I had to get rid of mine." - "Such a waste."

Charles fumbled with some leaves on the counter and imagined Erik on the other side of the phone. Wearing his grey overall and his hair messy, fingers rough from work. He bit down on his lip and glanced at the shop door. Would they have time? Would Erik like that?

"Erik..?" - "Hmmh?" - "What are you wearing right now?" He gulped at the awkwardness of the question. This was not how he had meant to start that.

"My working clothes?", Erik said almost in a question. He didn't get what Charles was up to and he should probably stop that right then. But Charles' mouth was faster than his brain.

"Would you like it if I - um… slide my hands inside your overall?", he asked, feeling his cheeks burning hot.

This was a terrible idea. He had never done this before and it showed, when he heard Erik's laughter on the other side of the phone.

"Charles, are you trying to do phonesex now?", he practically heard Erik grinning in that mocking voice. Charles bit down hard on his bottom lip and wished he had never opened his mouth.

"Whatever, it's … uh, I should probably go back to work, goodbye Erik."

 **Erik**

'Wait!', Erik practically yelled on the phone and felt awful for laughing earlier. Charles was just so adorable.

The other man didn't say anything, but he also didn't finish the call, so Erik took it as a good sign. He sprung up from his bench and started walking towards a building that was practically abandoned.

'What are you wearing?', he asked as he made his way to somewhere private.

'I, uh…', Charles trailed off and Erik was scared he might have killed the mood completely, but he hoped he could still save it. 'A button-up and faded jeans', he finally answered and Erik grinned.

'Hmm… How would you like if I ripped your shirt open, Charles?', he practically purred the name 'All those buttons flying everywhere, the shirt ruined'.

He had reached the building now and was walking towards a very secluded bathroom to lock himself into it.

'If you're sliding your hands inside my overall I won't be able to hold myself, might get a little rough', Erik pressed and finally reached the bathroom he was looking for.

'Erik', Charles said almost out of breath already 'I like it when you get rough', his voice was low and seductive.

'I'm going to pull you by your hair and suck on your neck so hard you're going to marked for weeks', Erik said 'Open up your shirt', he ordered and started to hear the fabric moving underneath Charles' expert fingers.

'Unzip your overall for me, Erik', the other one commanded and he did so, with anticipation making his stomach turn.

'You know… I'm not wearing anything under', Erik said and exaggerated on his german accent. He didn't know if Charles enjoyed it as much as Erik loved his british one, but right now all he got was his voice and imagination.

 **Charles**

A moan escaped Charles' mouth as he imagined Erik with nothing but his unzipped overall. He quickly rushed to the door and put the sign to closed so he wouldn't be disturbed. Then he sat down again and started opening his belt.

"Hmmh, Charles I can hear that", Erik said in a thick German accent that almost begged to bark orders at Charles. He licked over his dry bottom lip, feeling himself getting hard inside his pants.

"Tell me what to do now. I'm all yours, Erik", Charles breathed, his voice shaking with anticipation.

He heard a low growl from the other man and almost let out a whimper.

"I want you to unzip your pants, slow and without touching yourself yet", Erik's raspy voice gave him orders and Charles followed.

His pants unzipped easily and he almost broke the rule of not touching, when he heard Erik breathing heavily into the phone.

"You know, I would kiss you everywhere, teasing your nipples with my teeth", Charles said and got a small moan as a reward.

"Fuck Charles. Touch yourself, make it quick and fast and imagine it's my hand", Erik said with a raspy voice. Charles obeyed happily and grabbed his own cock, starting to pump the way he liked it. His heartbeat was faster and breath shallow. He smeared precum over his dick, making it easier to stroke.

"Erik", he moaned, but he knew he needed to continue talking. "I'm on my knees. I'm on my knees right in front of you and you can do everything you want with me. Fuck my mouth, until I choke", he groaned, hoping his words weren't an upturn for the other man.

 **Erik**

'Christ', Erik said with a moan and shoved his hand inside his overall, grabbing his throbbing cock that was already leaking.

'I'm holding your hair so tight it hurts, Charles. My dick is buried so deep inside your mouth and you like it', he said and his breath was shallow as he stroked himself quickly.

'Yes, please, I love to suck you off', Charles moaned and their whimpers filled the connection for a second.

'Oh God, Charles. Now I'm bending over your counter, throwing the flowers everywhere, my ass facing up for you to do as you please' - 'Eriiik' - 'I'm spreading my legs further apart for you', he said, his mind already going foggy only thinking about actually doing it.

'Hmmhm… I'm going to open you with my tongue' - 'Yes, yes, I'm all yours' - 'Erik… Aah I'm so close', Charles cried desperately.

'Pretend that you're inside of me', he said 'Please fuck me. Fuck me hard' Erik begged and twisted his hand, his thumb circling the head of his cock.

'Oh, Erik. You're going to be so tight… Ahh, fuck, I'm coming inside of you' - 'I can feel you dripping from my hole', and the conversation was over.

Erik was coming hot and long, the orgasm lingering for far too long as he tried to cover his cock and not let it spill on his overall. He groaned and moaned on the phone, hearing Charles' cries on the other side of the line, and imagining the man sitting on one of the stools, his big, fat cock flushed with arousal spilling everywhere and Charles' mouth open, all those sinful noises pouring out of him.

They were both quiet for a moment after, trying to piece themselves back together after the incredible orgasm, and when Erik was finally back down, he giggled.

'Fuck. You're good at that', he said feeling the afterglow taking care of him and putting him on a great mood.

 **Charles**

What was that? A giggle from Erik Lehnsherr? Charles grinned to himself and felt proud about the other man's words. He quickly tucked himself back inside his pants after getting rid of the evidence of his orgasm with a tissue.

"Me? God, you practically invented dirty talk. I love it when your german accent shows", Charles smiles into the phone, feeling light and content.

It took some time to close his jeans again with one hand, but he heard Erik's zipper on the other side too.

"Thank you. I love your british accent as well. Even though sometimes you sound very posh", Erik laughed and Charles huffed at that comment.

"That's because I am", he said. "Oh is that it?" - "Yes. I'm sitting on a lot of money, Lehnsherr. You just don't know it yet", he grinned and heard Erik laughing.

"Don't laugh at me! I can take you everywhere with that money", Charles grinned. "Everywhere, hm? How about Italy? I've never been to Italy", Erik answered and Charles imagined them both in a small boat in Venice, looking around the old houses.

"I'll take you to Italy one day", he answered almost certain and heard Erik breathing a quiet "One day" as if to agree with Charles.

They both didn't want to think about the fact that it was impossible to make these plans come true. Charles just wanted to dream for a little while.

"I'll have to get back to work", Erik then said, sounding sad. Charles wondered for a brief moment if it was about the end of their conversation or the doomed future they had.

"Of course. Me too. It was nice talking to you", Charles chased to say. "Yes, really nice", Erik said, already sounding as if in a better mood again.

"See you in two days", Charles said and both men hung up. He was greeted by the silence of his flowers.

It took him another ten minutes to turn the sign again, but his head was in Italy all day long.


	9. Chapter 9

**Erik**

The next two days went by in a rush. Erik had thoughts about Italy, Paris, Germany, anywhere as long as Charles was there, following him everywhere he went and making him smile silly.

He had sent Charles a _'Have a good day'_ message in one morning and had won a _'Sweet dreams_ ' in the night, but besides that they didn't manage to get much more contact going on.

When he woke up that wednesday morning it was a lot later than usual, seeing it was his day off and Magda had taken Nina to class. He sent his address to the other man and said he could come by anytime, since he was alone all day long. He also told him the time Magda would be back, so Charles would arrive a lot earlier.

Magda had seemed eager with the other man's visit and had suggested many things Erik could cook them both. It was _very_ weird, so he started asking her about it and put many pieces together until he finally understood that Magda thought he was a better person around Charles.

Which was the truth. He felt a little bad, but then he thought of the other man walking around his house, eating dinner with him, having sex on Erik's floor and he wasn't feeling bad any longer.

He left his house with a little too-tight khaki pants and black turtleneck, making his way towards the grocery shop to buy the necessary ingredients for their dinner. He was going to simply make them homemade cheeseburgers, but Erik was known in Magda's family because of those, so he hoped Charles would like them.

The grocery shop wasn't near Charles' flower shop, but Erik couldn't help but swing by the establishment after he had bought his things.

He pushed the door open awkwardly, using his elbows since his hands were full of bags, and heard the bell ringing above his head.

Charles was making a bouquet for a client, while there was another one pacing around. He yelled his usual "I'll be with you in a second", and kept focused on his client, as always.

He only noticed Erik after he was done with that bouquet, and his entire face lit up, his mouth curling in a breathtaking smile.

"Erik", he breathed as he couldn't believe his own eyes, that Erik couldn't possibly be standing right there.

"I got here first!", the other client said sounding annoyed and Charles' eyes snapped back at him "Of course, sir", he said always so polite, and Erik had to fight the urge the punch the other client in the face.

He put down his bags and started wandering around the shop, and chewing on his bottom lip. He hadn't done much talking to Charles lately, but he had used all his free time on a research and now he was going to see if it payed off.

It took Charles ten minutes to finally approach Erik, and when he did, they both smiled.

"I wanted to know", Erik started, putting on a very serious face "If you could make me a bouquet made of anemones, gardenias and daffodils?", he asked looking Charles in the eyes.

The other man raised his eyebrows and seemed like he was fighting not to laugh "They would hardly look good together", he said and Erik felt slightly embarrassed. Fuck, he should have thought if they would match.

"Well, I was kind of busy thinking about their meaning, I uh.. Crap, forgot they were supposed to look good", he explained.

In his defense, he was very focused on the fact that the anemones meant anticipation, the daffodils meant eternal life and the gardenias meant to say _'you're lovely',_ and in all honesty, Erik didn't even know which one were those flowers.

 **Charles**

Charles bit down on his lips at Erik's cute attempt to know the meanings of his flowers. He smiled at him and walked around the counter to peck his lips.

"How about I make you a bouquet and you'll have to find out the meaning another day?", he suggested and walked around the shop to look for flowers.

He took jasmine, morning glory and orange roses to make a small bouquet for Erik.

"I don't even know the names of those flowers, Charles. How am I supposed to find out their meanings?", Erik asked and a cute little pout appeared on his lips.

Charles chuckled as he arranged the flowers, mixing the orange and purple together, but evening out the heavy colors with the white jasmine and green leaves.

"Well, this is Jasmine", he said and pointed at the small white flowers. "And these are called morning glory."

"Morning glory? Really?", Erik chuckled and Charles rolled his eyes on him. "You're such a child, Lehnsherr", he grinned and put a bit of threat around the flowers to keep them in place.

"I know. Well, I really like it", Erik smiled and took the bouquet from Charles.

"Thank you. It's for free. I think, I'm gonna quit for today. Want me to help you carry those bags?", Charles asked and pointed at the grocery store bags.

"Please", Erik smiled and grabbed one bag, holding the flowers with his other hand.

Charles grabbed the second grocery bag and his own one, before they walked out of the shop and Charles locked it behind them.

The ten minutes walk to Erik's house was quiet, but not uncomfortable. Both men enjoyed each other's company in the cold winter day.

"I totally need hot chocolate later", Charles said, as they arrived at Erik's door.

"We can make some", Erik offered and opened the door for them. Charles was welcomed by a warmth that ran through his whole body.

"Hmmh, I'd like that", he smiled and they both entered Erik's home.

 **Erik**

The first thing Erik did when he entered his home with Charles, was go to the kitchen and find a vase for his bouquet. He was excited to find out the meaning of those beautiful flowers, but knew he would probably have to wait.

Charles followed him close behind and placed the bag he was holding on top of the table, a small gasp leaving his mouth when he did.

'What?', Erik asked turning around and found Charles smiling brightly, as he looked at the single red tulip inside of the jar.

Erik chuckled and placed his new flowers next to the sink, before walking up to Charles and kissing him sweetly on the lips.

They stood there kissing deeply and slowly, hands cupping each other's face and fingers messing up their hairs. 'I missed you', Erik murmured, his lips moving away from Charles' mouth and creating a wet path towards the other man's neck.

'Missed you too', Charles answered, and Erik felt his hands running up and down his spine, making Erik feel cherished. He nuzzled Charles' neck and breathed in his scent in a content sigh.

'You know', Erik murmured his breath hitting Charles' warm skin and making the other man shiver 'we have a guest room', he completed.

His heart already started beating faster with the words, only thinking of seeing Charles laying on a bed, hair messy and sprawled on white pillows.

Charles chuckled at that and mouthed Erik's ear hotly before saying 'I've been on edge ever since the phone sex', he said and Erik groaned in agreement.

He started walking Charles back, his lips firmly attached to the other man's neck, his hands going underneath his shirt.

'What do you say we test the bed first and the shower afterwards?', he asked 'Then you can watch me cook' - 'That sounds perfect', he answered and then suddenly stopped.

'You're cooking me dinner?', he asked with his brows furrowed. 'I thought that was obvious?', Erik asked not understanding where Charles was coming from.

'I just thought… I guess I assumed we'd eat leftovers or just buy something, I didn't realise… That's awfully sweet', Charles babbled and Erik kept staring at him still trying to figure out what was going on inside that weird mind.

'Really sweet, romantic even', he kept talking and Erik asked 'Is that bad?', feeling a little concerned. 'No!', Charles answered and beamed at Erik 'God, that's not bad, it's wonderful'.

The words were followed by the shorter man pulling Erik down for another kiss holding his waist underneath the black turtleneck. This kiss wasn't rough or desperate like the ones leading to their sex encounters had been. It was tender and gentle, and as they stumbled back towards the guest room, Erik thought something had shifted and he was feeling so very close to Charles now, that it literally made his body ache.

 **Charles**

They fell on the bed, kissing passionately and with a sudden gentleness that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Charles stomach was doing flips and turns, releasing several shockwaves through his body. It seemed like everything was electrified and whenever they touched each other, a direct connection to the hot, arousing pool in his lower body was made.  
They lost each other in a sea of kisses, touches and fading moans of their names. Charles cried out when his orgasm hit him, tears of pleasure in his eyes. Erik thrusted one last time inside the tight hole, before he stilled. Charles heard his named being moaned and then hot liquid pouring inside of him.  
He shuddered and pulled Erik close, kissing him desperately.  
The sound of cars passing by and children's laughter in their ears, Charles and Erik recovered from their foggy minds and gummy bones.  
"We should probably clean up", Charles suggested, not even moving one muscles to do as he said.  
"Yes. We should." It wasn't for another five minutes that they finally started moving. Erik made the bed look unused and clean again, while Charles opened a window and put the lube into his bag again. They met in the living room again, Erik immediately coming closer to Charles and clouding his mind again.  
"God, you look beautiful with postcoital hair", Erik breathed and Charles chuckled, as the other man pushed a hair behind his ear.  
"How about we take that shower now to prevent Magda from saying something different about my hair?", Charles grinned to which Erik happily agreed.  
On their way to the bathroom, Charles wondered if he was giving Erik enough compliments. He had just brushed the last compliment off the other gave him.  
His hand darted out and he grabbed Erik's wrist, when he was about to step into the shower. Erik turned around, furrowing his brows questioningly.  
"You mean so very much to me, Erik. Do you even know that?", Charles asked and rubbed gentle circles with his thumb on the other man's wrists.  
"Otherwise I wouldn't do what I'm doing right now. You are so special, Erik."

 **Erik**

Charles' words made Erik's heart grow twice it's size, and he felt a need to cry and laugh at the same time.

He smiled widely, showing all his teeth and went inside the shower, before turning back to Charles and asking 'C'mere, handsome'.

Erik pulled Charles by the waist and turned the water on before they stepped under it so it could get warm.

They were hugging with every inch of their bodies touching, and it felt as deep and intimate as the love they had just made, - _Yes, love_ , Erik thought. That hadn't been just sex.

'You're special to me too, Charles', Erik said and let his hand trail down the other man's back and rest on the curve of his ass. 'The first time I saw you, I knew I wanted you. I thought you were gorgeous and your eyes were the brightest I've ever seen', Charles chuckled at that, and answered 'I thought you had a cute smile and gentle eyes. I went home wondering if I'd see you again'.

Erik looked down to Charles, his heart longing for the other man even when they were so close together 'No one ever said my smile is cute or my eyes are gentle. Do you need glasses, Charles?', he asked in an amused tone, but those compliments were making him weak on the knee.

'No one ever paid attention then', Charles said and moved his hand to check the water's temperature before moving them towards it, but not breaking the hug.

'But when we met at the school again… I just stood there at the corridor after you were gone', Erik finally said and Charles pulled away to look him in the eyes.

'Oh, Erik', he breathed, and that was enough for them. They were kissing again, sweet and slow, gentle touches eased by the water on their bodies, making them slide together.

It took them a few minutes to stop kissing so they could finally take a real shower when Charles said 'Wait! I'm going to smell different', sounding so very disappointed and sad.

Erik who was already pouring shampoo on his hand to wash Charles' hair stopped in the middle of it and thought for a second.

'I spilled beer on you and made you take a shower?', he offered and Charles bit down on his bottom lip.

'I don't have other clothes', he finally said and Erik was quick to fix that 'I only destroyed your shirt, so I'll loan you a sweater. I can have it cleaned and we'll switch back later' he said simply.

Charles smiled openly and asked 'What if I want to keep your sweater on the back of my closet?' - 'What if I wasn't planning on giving you the shirt back?', they laughed and Erik proceeded on washing Charles' hair and then his entire body with a unnecessary precision, worshipping every centimeter of skin.

When he was on his knees, washing Charles' espetacular thighs he looked up at him through his eyelashes and smiled when he was met with a half-hard cock in front of him, and Charles' eyes blown with desire. It was only natural for Erik to take advantage of his position and swallow him whole, sucking Charles off thoroughly and drinking him up.

After, it was Charles' turn to wash Erik and then give head with an impressive talent that always made Erik's toes curl harder, and his knees feel weaker.

It was a rather long shower, and when they climbed out of it, it was just in time to cook dinner. Erik had a smile glued to his face when he went to his wardrobe and picked his favorite blue sweater. It was okay if he never saw it again as long as he got to see it on Charles now.

 **Charles**

Standing in the kitchen and cooking burgers with Erik was strangely domestic and fun. Charles washed the vegetables and Erik cooked the meat, while they both talked about Erik's work. He was interested in the work Erik did and actually wanted to see him then.  
"I should visit you there at some point", he smiled and brushed his arm against Erik's as he put the salad into a bowl. Erik stopped and looked bewildered at him.

"You want to?", Erik asked, sounding almost surprised, "I mean, it's pretty boring and-"

Charles bent over and kissed Erik with a grin on his face. When he pulled away, he finished putting the salad into the bowl.  
"Nothing you do would ever bore me. I'd love to visit you", he concluded and leaned against the counter to watch Erik finish off the meat. "Why does this sound so strange to you?"

"Well, Magda was never interested in my work and it's really simple, so..", Erik answered and trailed off.

Charles pushed himself off the counter and walked behind Erik. He wrapped his arms around the other man's waist and kissed the back of his neck, breathing in the intoxicating scent of Erik. The shower gel was still present and his hair a little wet.

"I put flowers together for a living, Erik. And I'm sure, if my kids are having these _introduce your parents work at school_ days, they will pick their mother's job to do so. Yet, I love my job and if you like your job too, I'd love to see you full in your element", he breathed against Erik's skin, causing little goosebumps to appear.

Erik turned in his embrace and kissed him eagerly, the meat abandoned in the hot pan. Erik's arms came around Charles' neck and he felt himself being pulled closer.

"Thank you", he heard and felt Erik whisper against his lips. Charles opened his eyes again and kissed the corner of Erik's mouth, feeling the beard scratching his lips.

"Watch out for the meat", he grinned and Erik turned around again, just in time to put it on the bread slice that Charles already cut in half.

 **Erik**

They sat across from each other to have their dinner, and the sound that came out of Charles' mouth when he took his first bite, made Erik strangely proud.

He had loved cooking with the other man, and could easily see them doing that many other times. He pushed away the thought that they wouldn't have many chances to do so and focused on the now.

'Is it good?', he asked with a grin and took a bite from his own burger.

Charles practically moaned 'God, yes', and Erik chuckled. They talked through it all, chatting about their lives and families.

'Nina won't give me peace about getting her a dog', Erik said after sipping on his beer. The girl could be pushy when she wanted. To his surprise, Charles started laughing and Erik raised his eyebrow at him.

'Don't kill me', he asked out of breath 'but the day I met her, she said her papa wouldn't let her have a dog, and I might have told her to beg a little more', Charles was looking very amused now, and Erik kicked him on the shin under the table.

'You ass! I'm getting back at you, Xavier', he warned but Charles was still laughing 'I'm sorry, I didn't know you were her father' - 'Would it have made a difference?' - 'Not really', he answered and Erik kicked him playfully again.

They did the dishes together and Erik was already starting to worry about meeting Charles again.

'You could come over a little before lunchtime', he said casually 'and watch me work. Then we can eat together'. Charles' smile was gorgeous and knocked the breath out of Erik's lungs.

'That sounds perfect! I will text you when I can come' - 'It's a date'.

They grinned foolishly at each other and got closer. Erik started tracing Charles' face with his fingertips, wanting to memorize every single detail, wanting to remember how it felt. The rough beard never ceased to feel amazing and Erik didn't fight the urge to lean closer and kiss Charles again, the scruff scratching his skin, making it burn.

It didn't take long for them to hear a car parking on it's spot and doors closing. They parted from the kiss feeling incredibly sad and Erik pressed their lips together one more time before they heard Magda's key at the door.

 **Magda**

Magda came home with Nina, already in a good mood as she thought about Erik being happy later. Of course, she had told Francesca about the latest events and how their marriage practically changed 180° after Erik met Charles. Francesca had told her that she needed to be careful - Erik could start spending more time with Charles than with her, if he felt happier around him. But Magda didn't think this would happen. They had more sex in the past month than the whole year and he made her feel loved.

When they entered the house, her daughter started running towards the living room and squeaked when she saw the visitor. Magda followed and just arrived when Charles picked Nina up, spinning her around. She laughed happily, so Magda walked to Erik and kissed him with a smile.

"Hello, hun", she greeted him and caressed his chest gently.

"Hey. We already ate dinner, but there are leftovers", her husband said and she pressed her lips into a thin line, trying to conceal her disappointment. She had hoped for them to eat dinner together, but she was fine with it as long as Erik was happy.

"Isn't that your sweater?", Magda asked with a glance at Charles who was talking to Nina. He was listening to her babble about school and the dog she kept dreaming about. Who the hell put that thought into her mind anyway?

"Uh, yes. I accidentally ruined Charles' shirt with beer, so I offered to wash it and gave him my sweater", Erik answered and Magda nodded.

"It's your favourite one." - "It's the first thing I grabbed. Can't tell him to change again, can I?", Erik laughed.

Magda went over to Charles and took Nina on her arm. They both looked disappointed, when she told them that it was time for Nina's bath.

"Come on, Princess. We'll eat dinner afterwards", Magda said and retreated with Nina into the bathroom.

 **Charles**

Charles looked up from the couch, he had sat with Nina, to look at Erik with a small smile. He stood up quickly and got closer to the other man, but knew that he couldn't risk being too close to him now.

He uncertainly put one hand into his pocket and shot Erik a questioning glance.

"Should I leave? I don't want to intrude or anything", Charles offered.

 **Erik**

'I don't want you to go', Erik said honestly and risked a glance at the bathroom door that was closed.

He reached out and let his thumb run over Charles' bottom lip 'But maybe you should. I'm fighting too hard right now not to kiss you', the words were barely above a whisper, and Charles gave him a sad little smile.

'Yes, it's probably for the best', he nodded and Erik felt like he had been just punched on the gut. Saying goodbye to Charles would always be too hard wouldn't it?

The other man picked his purse and walked towards the door 'Say goodbye to Nina and Magda for me?', he asked and Erik agreed, walking closer.

For a very reckless moment, Erik didn't care at all about anything else and he cupped Charles' face leaning in to kiss the corner of his mouth, quickly but gently.

'I'll be waiting for you at work', he said with a smile and unlocked the door for Charles. The other man seemed to melt for a second, his eyes soft and kind when he answered 'I'm looking forward to it', and stepped out of the house.

He sighed and closed the door already missing Charles.

 **Moira**

Moira was feeling very annoyed. It was past dinner time and Charles was still not home. He had told her he wasn't going to have dinner with them today and even if she hadn't been pleased about it, she had agreed.

She didn't appreciate when Charles left her to take care of both their kids, and have dinner without her husband, but since things were a little rough for them lately, she figured she should cut him some slack. Maybe a break was exactly what Charles needed to start acting like himself again.

When the front door finally opened, Moira had just put on a movie on the television for David and Hannah, so she was standing right there when Charles entered.

Moira had been prepared to put on her best behaviour and try to ease things between them, but that idea came crashing down when she took in what her husband was wearing, and that he looked freshly showered. She was good at picking up details because of her work, and right now it all looked off.

'Where have you been?', she asked pressing her lips in a thin line. She didn't want to fight, especially not in front of the kids, so she hoped with all her heart that Charles had an acceptable explanation.

 **Charles**

"I told you, I was having dinner with Erik. We played chess", Charles answered with a raised eyebrow. Did Moira really forget about that? His question was answered with the next question that came from his wife. "Ah, since when does chess require showers afterwards? It's not like you exhausted yourself too much by moving the figures", she said in a sarcastic tone that made Charles' blood boil.

Why was she like that? Moira had never been one to be jealous and that was one thing he loved about her. Why would she start now?

"We drank a beer and Erik accidentally spilled it over my shirt", he said coldly, walking past her into the bedroom. He heard her sigh and silently curse underneath her breath which was new to her too. Moira basically never cursed and especially not around their children. Maybe she had been at edge all day?

Charles quickly changed into more comfortable pants and took a quick look in the mirror to check on any evidence for heated make out and sex sessions. Then he walked back into the living room and sat down next to his children, lifting Hannah on his lap.

Moira hesitated for a moment and sat down next to him, putting one gentle hand on his thigh.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that", she apologised and that was the first moment, Charles felt bad. He felt bad, because Moira had been right with her assumptions and he lied coldblooded to her. And now she apologised, even though she was right to be mad. It frustrated Charles to think about that.

"It's alright. Let's just watch the movie, shall we?", he soothed and Moira leaned against him, head on his shoulder.

 **Magda**

Magda was sad that Charles had already left, when she came out of the bathroom. She wanted to see the effect this man had on her husband with her own eyes. But she found that she didn't care that much. The only thing that needed to work was their marriage and she didn't care how.

Erik was already in bed - and so were their children - when Magda put on her sexiest underwear and stepped out of the bathroom. She smiled seductively at her husband and put her hands on her hips.

"Erik. Do you like what you see?", she asked with a teasing smile. She had gone to a fitness center after work for the past two months, knowing that the pregnancy with Nina gave her some unwanted kilos that needed to go. Now her body was in shape again and she hoped that their sexlife could fire up again.

 **Erik**

Erik looked up to Magda and almost choked in nothing but air. Of course he liked what he saw, she was a gorgeous woman with a perfect body, and the fact she was just standing there trying to seduce him, was enough for Erik to like what he saw.

Except he didn't like it that much. She had too much breast, too little dick. Of course he still desired her, but right now he only wanted to feel Charles' body against his, his stubble, his big hands.

He wasn't aroused looking at Magda, but the mere thought of Charles already made his cock twitch, and his eyes darken slightly. Magda seemed to understand it was because of her and she chuckled, walking closer to Erik and climbing from the bottom of the bed until she was face to face with him.

Erik thought that if it was Charles then he would definitely find it in him to have his third orgasm of the day, but it wasn't, and he wasn't turned on or even had the energy.

'Magda, I'm tired', he said through gritted teeth, knowing where that would take them.

The look in her face was a mix of anger and hurt, and Erik's heart clenched for doing that to his wife.

'I'm sorry, dear. It was a long day…' he tried to explain softly but Magda got up from the bed and walked angrily around the room. Erik watched her until she seemed to calm down enough.

'I don't understand you, Erik', she stated, her hands on her hips. 'Magda-' - 'No, I don't want to talk. You should sleep in the guest room tonight'.

Erik swallowed around a knot on his throat and didn't discuss with her request. He simply picked his pillow and left the room.

When he lay on the spare bed, he imagined he could still smell Charles in the sheets, and a little of the unease on his heart was erased almost immediately.

He picked his cell phone and thought about texting Charles, but decided against it. Anything he wanted to say felt too sweet and deep to risk Moira seeing it.

Erik fell asleep lulled by the smell of the other man, and thinking about the shirt tucked safely on his wardrobe.

 **Moira**

When Moira climbed into bed, she was already feeling a little better. Charles' explanation had been plausible enough and she felt bad now.

She had also been a little hard on Erik's presence on her husband's life for the last few days and regretted it. Charles obviously cared for his friend, and so far the other man hadn't hurt her husband, so she should back down.

'How was your day?', she asked Charles while curling against his side.

'It was okay. I worked a lot and then grabbed dinner at Erik's' - 'That's nice. Who won the game?' - 'We both did'.

Moira nuzzled Charles' neck and pecked his skin 'I'm glad he's being a good friend', she said and started to let her hand wander around Charles' chest.

Her husband wasn't reacting to her touches though, so she thought she'd better stop before being properly rejected.

'Goodnight, Charles', she said hugging him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Charles**

The next day Charles found himself walking to Erik's workplace a little bit before lunchtime. He needed his phone to guide him to the address, Erik had given him. That's why Charles came to the place five minutes too late, but still in time to watch Erik working.

He made his way through the factory, hoping nobody would mind him walking there without any security. Then he found the small bench, Erik had described to him, and sat down on it.

It didn't take him long to spot Erik and the moment he laid eyes on the other man, water started to gather in his mouth. Erik was dressed in the grey overall as usual, but Charles had never seen him with dirty hands from work and sweat on his forehead. He was wearing security glasses and a helmet, but that didn't prevent him from looking hella sexy.

Charles watched Erik who didn't seem to notice him yet and he enjoyed the view of his muscles, once he rolled up the sleeves from the overall.

Soon, Erik seemed to spot him and a bright smiled formed on his face as he walked towards Charles. He was already uncomfortably hard in his pants just by watching Erik work and seeing his muscles on expose.

"Hey, there you are. How long have you been sitting there?", Erik asked, once he was in ear catch.

"Can you take your break now?", Charles asked, not even acknowledging Erik's question. He was aroused and he needed to touch those dirty arms now, feel the tight muscles.

"Um, yeah, I could", Erik answered and that was all Charles needed to hear.

He jumped up from the bench and grabbed Erik's wrist, dragging him towards a big gate that had a small door in it. He opened the door and found himself outside the factory, pressing Erik into the wall and slamming his lips on the other's.

"God, you look so hot when you work", Charles moaned and pressed his hard cock against the other man's hips.

 **Erik**

'Hmmhm', Erik moaned into the kiss, feeling Charles' hard dick pressing on his body. 'You should come by more often, then', he said sucking on the other man's bottom lip and releasing it with a bite.

'C'mere', Erik said tugging at Charles' cardigan and starting to lead the way towards the same bathroom he had jerked off at the other day.

Charles was glued to Erik all the way there, his warm, wet lips trailing open mouthed kisses on his neck, mixing saliva with sweat and putting Erik on edge.

He thanked the heavens for not bumping into anyone as he felt Charles' hands unzipping his overall all the way to the navel and his hands slipping inside of it. Erik didn't think they would have been able to stop even if someone saw them.

'Christ, Charles you're so sexy', Erik moaned pulling at the long hair and earning a whimper.

They finally reached the bathroom and Erik fumbled to lock the door at the same time he tried to take Charles' cardigan off.

The other man's hand started wandering downwards and Erik finally managed to lock the door when Charles' grip on him got tighter and he half-whispered, half-cried 'Fuck, _Erik',_ in a dreamy tone.

"What?", Erik asked putting both his hands on the wall next to Charles' head "You're really not wearing anything underneath", he said and Erik could see how dark his eyes were, how full of lust and desire the other man was feeling.

"I knew you were coming", Erik grinned sinfully and made a small thrust with his hips, his and Charles' erections brushing against each other through the fabric.

"Yes, please", Charles moaned as they just moved their hips and kissed frantically.

"Did you bring-" - "In my pocket", the shorter one answered and focused on retrieving the bottle of lube while Erik undid Charles' pants and pushed them down along with the black boxers. He fought off his overall that pooled on the ground around his feet and kicked them away.

In an instinct, Erik bent down, his hands trailing Charles' thighs and lower until the other man catched up and wrapped his arms around Erik's neck, giving a small jump and snaking his legs around Erik's narrow waist.

"I'm going to fuck you against the wall", he murmured in a raspy voice and Charles moaned loudly "Now, Erik",attacking Erk's mouth with fervor.

He opened the bottle and poured the cool liquid on his fingers, reaching out to circle Charles' entrance and slip two fingers at once. Erik groaned when he felt that Charles was still loose from their activities on the day before, his arousal increasing painfully.

"Fuck, you're still open for me", he said with a hoarse tone "Just waiting to feel me inside of you again" - "Yes, yes, now Erik".

Erik didn't need to hear the request twice, seeing that Charles was already prepared. He took his fingers off and went to smear his cock with the lube, but Charles just grinned at him and lifted his own hand towards his mouth, licking each finger and then his palm, before wetting Erik's erection with it.

"I'm going to come before I can fuck you", Erik said panting, his head resting on Charles' shoulder as the other man worked to slick him up "We can't have that, can we? C'mon Erik, fuck me. Fuck me so hard everyone will hear my screams on the next building", he moaned and Erik lifted him higher, positioning his cock and sinking home with one deep thrust.

 **Charles**

Charles moaned loudly when Erik slid deep inside of him, stretching and filling him to the fullest.

"Goddamnit, Erik, fuck me," he gritted through his teeth with an insistent push back of his hips. Apparently his tone was challenge enough for Erik because his hips reared back and snapped forward quick and merciless, pounding into him harshly.  
Each thrust knocked the wind out of him and left him moaning and whimpering like he was getting paid for it. "Yes! Fuck! Erik, so goo-hmm, so good," Charles cried out brokenly, each syllable pushed out by a thrust of Erik's cock.  
"Yeah, Charles- shit- fuckin' scream my name, Charles," Erik babbled breathlessly as he snapped his hips forward, pressing Charles against the wall.  
"Erik! Yes, so good! Mmhh, fuck- Erik!" Charles screamed, holding onto Erik's shoulders almost too forcefully. Erik's grip on his thighs tightened, and he pushed Charles' back against the wall brutally, his pace slowing down, but his cock slamming into Charles' hole deep and unforgiving.  
Charles moaned breathlessly, crying out every other second. Erik leaned in to capture Charles' lips, but he could barely respond, and shifted the direction of his hips, hitting Charles' prostate and he shouted. "Erik! Fuck! Oh God yes! Right there!"  
"Sound so good, Charles, just like that," Erik murmured against his ear and making Charles moan his name and shudder almost violently. "So close, Charles."  
Erik pressed more firmly against him, hands reaching down to grab Charles' cock and getting his own impossibly deep, murmuring dirty words into Charles' ear that almost made him come just by hearing them with the thick German accent.  
A few more strokes and harsh thrusts from Erik, and Charles was coming- and it was intense.  
"Holy fuck!" He choked out on a sob. He started panting and heaving as he came over Erik's hand.  
"Jesus, so fuckin tight, Charles!" Erik's hips stuttered and stilled inside of him with long, wordless groans until his body stopped shaking. They came down together, breathing heavily and silently.  
Erik's hands starting to shake violently and Charles signalised him to let him down. They both stood on shaky legs afterwards, trying to catch their breaths.  
"That was awesome", Charles said after a minute and grinned up at Erik.

 **Erik**

Erik put his shaky hands around Charles' shoulder and let out a deep, calming breath.

"I think people heard us from another country", he chuckled and kissed Charles' shoulder gently "That was perfect", he said.

Charles' arms went around Erik's waist and they held each other just for a little while, the sweat and dampness of their skins getting too much to bare inside that closed bathroom. They pulled away from each other and started dressing up again.

"I think you got my cardigan dirty with oil", Charles said inspecting his clothes, and not only his cardigan, but also his shirt were looking dirty now. "Shit, I'm sorry", Erik said closing up his overall.

"It was worth it", Charles answered with a cheeky smile and a wink, making Erik pull him for a quick peck on the lips before they left the bathroom behind.

"I brought us leftovers from yesterday", Erik said walking calmly next to the other man "But if you don't want to eat the same, there's a cafeteria here" - "The leftovers are just fine", Charles answered when they had just reached the bench again.

"Okay, just wait here then, I'll pick it up on the fridge" - "Alright" - "Be right back, darling", Erik said and turned around to leave. Then he froze on the spot. Had he just called Charles 'darling'?

He turned again, his eyes wide and Charles staring at him with an expression Erik couldn't quite read.

"I mean… I uh, fuck. Shit, sorry. Fuck, I'll be right back", he stuttered and fled inside the building to pick their lunch.

It could be worse, couldn't it? He could have called the other man 'love' or something. Had Charles minded? It's not like Erik actually gave him the time to say anything but still. He probably did mind. Erik really didn't know what was the proper code with one's lover, but it wasn't his fault that Charles actually was an adorable darling.

After he had picked the hamburgers and heated them on the microwave, he went back to the bench and found Charles still on the same position, waiting for his return. The best tactic was to pretend it never happened.

"Here it is", he said giving Charles his portion and sitting down next to him, already focusing on his own food.

 **Charles**

Charles kept thinking about Erik calling him darling. It made his chest warm up and feel all fuzzy. He liked Erik calling him that, but the other's reaction to his slip was almost fearful - as if he would regret saying that.

They ate the burgers while Erik told Charles explicitly what his tasks at work were, pointing at several machines. Some of his coworkers - Logan and Scott as Charles learned - said hello as they walked to have their own lunch break outside. Erik told him that they have this ongoing fight about a girl and actually couldn't stand each other, but had to work in the same unit. Sometimes it would be very funny when the two were arguing about something and one brought up Jean - the red-haired girl they liked.

Other than that, Erik's coworkers all got along with each other, but Erik himself liked to keep his distance from everyone.

"Why?", Charles asked curiously as Erik told him that. Erik just shrugged and swallowed down a piece of the burger.

"I can work better when I'm alone", Erik explained himself and Charles nodded. They finished the burgers and threw the rest into a bin nearby.

Charles clapped into his hands once, knowing that he had to leave again now. His heart started longing for Erik again.

"I better get going. Still have my own work to do", he said almost casually to pretend it wouldn't hurt them.

Erik's lips pressed into a thin line and he nodded once. Charles didn't want to risk any of Erik's coworkers to see them kissing, not knowing how well they knew Magda and Nina. Instead, he just stroked Erik's cheek once and gave him a loving glance.

Erik made a move to capture Charles' hand in his, guiding it to his lips and kissing the knuckles gently. Charles blushed and leaned in to hug Erik tightly.

"See you soon, darling", Charles whispered when he pulled away and didn't wait for Erik's reaction, before he grabbed his bag and walked out of the factory.

 **Erik**

The rest of the week rushed out in front of Erik. He and Charles called each other when they had a spare time, and met twice on the flower shop.

It was saturday now, and Erik was walking to Charles' house. The other man had said Moira would be out with the kids for a little while, and they could use that time for themselves. Erik had told Magda where he would be and she seemed okay with it.

He knocked on the doorbell, and was quickly received by Charles. They smiled widely and silly at each other, and Erik rushed in so he could kiss him without the neighbors seeing.

As soon as the door was closed, Charles was already on him, holding Erik so very close while their mouths were crushed together.

"Hello, darling", Erik breathed out when they parted and saw Charles melting at the nickname. He had adopted it after his slip and each time the other man looked happy listening to it.

"Hi, petal", he answered and Erik giggled. Charles always made him feel like a kid in high school, even though Erik had never, ever giggled in his entire life. Until now. He fucking loved being called 'petal' and he didn't give a crap what it made to his reputation.

Charles' hands were under Erik's turtleneck in a second after that, and the other man whispered on the crook of his neck "Can't wait to be with you", making Erik shiver uncontrollably as they stumbled towards the couch. This time though, Charles didn't let Erik lay him down on the furniture, instead, he made Erik bent over the back of the couch, and fucked him reverentially, almost like Charles was worshipping him with his cock buried deep inside Erik's ass.

"Fuck, it is always so intense", Erik said when they were putting their clothes back on and Charles laughed, kissing him on the lips "It really is".

They didn't have much time before Moira would come back, so they settled to play a match of chess, closed on Charles' office.

"We should play strip-chess sometime", Erik said casually, studying the board and making his move.

 **Charles**

A laughter filled the air, as Charles threw his head back at the thought of them playing strip-chess. He was a 35 year old married father and yet, he loved playing those silly games with Erik.

"I haven't played any strip games since college. I like the idea", Charles grinned as he took control over his outburst and got rid of some tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Me neither", Erik answered with a mischievous smirk. Charles stared at Erik as he licked his lips and it already turned him on again.

But the arousal and sexual desire he usually felt when he was around Erik, was intensified by the fast beating of his heart. Charles examined Erik carefully, his eyes watching every detail. He had long memorized all the small wrinkles in Erik's face - especially the ones in the corner of his eyes that came from laughter and smiling. The little scar at his lip was interrupting the even pattern of his ginger stubble. His thin lips that captured white teeth and a wet tongue inside his mouth. Charles especially love all the little habits Erik had that the other man wasn't even aware of. When he scratched his beard absently, while thinking about his next move; when his tongue darted out to lick the corner of his mouth, even though nothing was there; when his cold, assessing stare turned gentle and loving whenever he looked at Charles. All those things made Charles happy whenever he saw Erik doing them.

Erik made his move and looked up again - eyes turning warm and tender as always.

"It's your turn", Erik said and Charles answered "I love you." The world seemed to stop and for a long moment Charles was sure, he had just ruined their whole relationship.

 **Erik**

Erik stared at Charles for the longest of time, watching the other man fidget uncomfortably at his stuffed chair. His eyes were avoiding Erik's but he wasn't taking back what he said, he wasn't apologizing.

Erik felt his heart bursting out of his chest, the butterflies on his stomach - that he believed were long dead - were spreading their wings and flying around, making him feel both nauseous and excited.

Charles loved him. Erik thought he was the only one feeling that way, that there was no possible alternative reality where Charles would love him back, but there was.

Charles seemed to finally snap out of his shock and was now looking at him, his mouth opening to say something, but Erik didn't give him the chance. He got up from his chair and walked around the table, to straddle Charles' lap, sitting on him with both his knees tucked between the other man's thighs and the arms of the chair.

He kissed Charles' lips once very softly and whispered against them "I love you, Charles Xavier", feeling him relax considerably underneath him and tilting his head to kiss Erik deeply, their tongues tangling around each other and tasting every flavor inside their mouths.

Erik started unbuckling Charles' belt again, not caring about the time, just needing to be close to him at that moment.

"I love your laugh, your posh accent, your perky ass", he complimented kissing every inch of skin he could reach, with a passion he never had to tame around Charles. The other man laughed lively.

"You see good in _me,_ and I can barely believe my luck to be able to touch you like this, see you like this", he kept talking as he freed his own cock from inside his boxers, and held it with a firm grip, getting as close as possible from Charles to hold his dick at the same time.

"Say it again", he asked against the skin right in front of Charles' ear and the other man practically moaned "I love you" back, making Erik melt against him.

They finished five minutes before Moira came back home and had just enough time to make themselves look presentable and the study not smell so much like sex. It smelled like cigars now, and Erik wasn't a smoker, but he guessed he could pretend for the sake of their relationship.

He stole one quick kiss from Charles and asked "Should I leave now? Or do you actually want to finish the game?".

 **Charles**

"Come back tomorrow okay? Moira will be out for an hour", Charles said, not being able to wait any longer to see Erik again. Erik however pulled a face at the short time ahead.

"An hour is practically nothing, Charles", he whined and Charles nodded sadly.

"I know, but it's better than nothing", he said to which Erik agreed.

They walked to the door together and Charles couldn't help but push Erik out of the door and almost close it behind them. Then he stood on his tiptoes, kissing Erik gently but quick. Erik seemed surprised, because they had never kissed with such a potential of being caught. Charles didn't care though, too many feelings bubbling up inside of him.

"Tomorrow then?" , he asked as he turned away and Erik nodded with a sharky smile on his lips. "Tomorrow."

"I love you." - "I love you too."

Later that night, Charles texted with Erik and every stupid joke the other man pulled made him giggle. Moira just came back from putting Hannah to bed as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Who are you texting with?", she asked and Charles glanced up from his phone.

"Erik", he answered truthfully and Moira sighed, not even commenting on that anymore.

"When are you leaving tomorrow?", he asked, as his wife settled into bed next to him.

"At six. But I can't take Hannah with me", she answered, sounding a bit distant. Charles' eyes widened in slight panic.

"Why?" - "Because she's too young to be taken to the spa, Charles", Moira rolled her eyes and Charles gulped uncomfortably. He didn't want to cancel plans with Erik.

"David will be at a friend's right?", he asked to which Moira nodded. She turned away, ready to fall asleep.

Charles had noticed that she was less trying to sleep with him than usual. Had he rejected her too often?

He also thought about his and Erik's plans for tomorrow, but decided to put Hannah to sleep before the other man would even arrive there. His daughter was a heavy sleeper and wouldn't even hear them.

 **Erik**

'How was it at Charles?', Magda asked as soon as Erik stepped inside the house.

Nina was playing in her room, already in her pajamas and didn't bother to stop her tea party at the moment.

'It was good', he answered not elaborating too much, and walking past Magda into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

'Erik is everything okay? At work or…?', she trailed off, her hand coming up to her hair and brushing her bangs in a nervous habit.

'You don't care about my work', he answered dryly and she rolled her eyes 'You are so immature', she snapped and got out of the kitchen without the conversation going any further.

Later, after he had played with Nina and put her down to sleep, he apologised to Magda and told her work was stressful, but she didn't have anything to worry about.

'I thought seeing Charles would cheer you up', she commented, but now Erik was busy talking to the other man through text and he barely gave his wife attention before bidding her goodnight, followed by a kiss on her temple.


	11. Chapter 11

**Erik**

The next day, Erik found himself at Charles' house at six sharp. He could still see Moira's car so he lurked outside the house like a stalker and waited for her to leave before walking to the door and ringing the bell.

'Hi, handsome', Erik greeted warmly and won a huge smile 'Hello yourself, gorgeous', came the answer in that posh accent and Erik had to laugh.

He quickly got in the house, not wanting to lose a second from the precious hour they got together.

'I'm afraid we have company today', Charles said, his arms coming around Erik's waist, his forehead leaning on his chest. 'Moira couldn't take Hannah but she's asleep now, and we have the time all to ourselves', he grinned and licked his lip before going on the tip of his toes and kissing Erik until he was out of breath.

'You sure?', Erik asked 'We can just play chess and talk' - 'We can do that… But right now I need you', Charles panted and they kissed full of passion.

 **Charles**

"I love you", he growled the newly won words and watched as they did their magic. Erik groaned into the kiss and deepened it passionately.

Charles pulled Erik towards the couch and they landed on it, his hair going into all directions. Erik immediately started kissing his neck and sent shivers up and down his spine, when he hummed.

"I love you too", the tall man on top of him murmured against his skin. Charles let out a moan at that and found a grip on Erik's hair.

The blood froze completely in his body, when he heard the tiny voice way too close to them.

"Daddy?", he heard Hannah's voice and both men stopped kissing each other abruptly. Charles heart sunk to his knees as Erik lifted himself up from him and he followed. His daughter was standing close to the couch, eyeing them with big eyes.

"Shit", he cursed, immediately regretting that as well. He jumped up from the couch and picked his daughter up with one grip. "What are you doing here, Hannah? You're supposed to sleep", he almost told her off in an angry voice.

Her eyes already started watering up and Charles cursed some more, while he walked her back to her room. He put her into her bed.

"Sleep some more, princess", he said, but she shook her head.

"I'm hungry", she murmured and a fat tear started rolling from her eye. Charles sighed and told her to wait a moment. Then he walked back into the living room to Erik.

"You need to go", he said, running a hand through his hair. The realisation of what happened started sinking in and he wanted to vomit. What if his daughter was already able to tell what they did?

"Shit, fuck. Shitshitshit", he cursed, pulling harder on his hair and pacing around the room.

 **Erik**

Erik watched Charles pace around the room with a sinking feeling on his stomach. He echoed the other man's words inside his head and looked around desperately not knowing what to do, but wanting to help.

'Charles, calm down. We'll figure this out', he said as softly as he could, and gave a few steps towards the other man, who looked at him sharply and made Erik stop.

'Calm down? How am I supposed to calm the fuck down?', he asked nervously and Erik _knew_ Charles wasn't mad at him exactly but he was angry at the situation, and right now Erik was there and he could take a few blows.

'I know, I'm freaking out too, my love-' - 'What if it had been Nina? Seeing you making out with another man in your own house? Fuck. Cheating on her mother. You have to go, Erik, you have to go now', he said still pacing and pulling at his hair.

Erik wanted nothing more than to just reach out, hold Charles and soothe him with loving words, gentle kisses. He knew the gesture wouldn't be appreciated at the moment.

'Okay, I'll back off', he conceded and ran a hand through his hair awkwardly 'Call me if you need anything. Or even if you just want to talk…I'm so sorry, and I love you', he said knowing that Charles couldn't say the words back right now, it would be too much for him.

But all in all, he hoped the words would at least remind Charles why they were doing this.

And then Erik left. The air outside hit him harshly and he sobered up from the heavy atmosphere inside the house. He didn't want Charles to handle that situation by himself, but he couldn't force the man to accept his help. If Charles needed Erik to back down, he would.

He bit his lower lip and hugged himself on the way back to his home, feeling the frustration taking over his body. He desperately hoped Charles would forgive him, - and soon - for entering his home and making a mess like that.

He didn't know how he would have reacted if it were Nina, but he was sure it wouldn't have been better than Charles' reaction to the whole thing. At least Hannah was too young to remember any of that. She was still at an age where she didn't quite understand the concepts of sex, love, marriage or cheating so there was that.

But it could have been Nina. Or David. And that thought terrified him when he remembered the times when he just latched at Charles not caring about their surroundings, about other people. They were so wrapped up on each other when they were together, they practically forgot they had other things to worry about.

It was probably a good thing that Charles had kicked him out like that. Of course it hurt a little to have to leave that way, not hearing that was forgiven or that Charles still loved him back, but he knew that was a result of his own insecurities. The other man had acted on the most rational way, and Erik could never resent him for that, even if Charles didn't want to continue their affair. No. Not affair. Relationship.

He knew he was married, but Charles wasn't some hot affair he was having on the side. He was a person Erik loved so deeply, that he wished he was not married at all just so he could get the other man to the nearest church and put a ring on his finger.

As he reached his home, he was in no better mood and locked himself in his bedroom for the better part of the day, claiming he was feeling sick. Which he was, but not on the literal way.

 **Charles**

Charles carried Hannah around the house for the next hour, giving her everything she wanted in the desperate need to make her forget. Even if she couldn't understand what Erik and Charles had been up to, Charles was still afraid that she would babble about Erik's visit earlier. Charles was overreacting and he knew it, but being caught by somebody and be it is three year old toddler, made him realise how careless they've been.

He gave Hannah sweets and watched TV with her, until Moira came back and asked what they've been up to. Charles stiffened for a brief second, but Hannah simply answered that they watched TV.

He still felt incredibly guilty and spent the rest of the evening with his family, like the good husband he was supposed to be.

The next day Charles realised that Erik and him needed a bit of distance to calm down. He didn't want to break things off, but they should probably meet somewhere else but their houses.

 **[You]**

 **We need to talk. Come to the shop on Monday.**

He wanted to make the text sound less stiff, but he was too careful not to be caught again. The moment Erik would walk into his shop tomorrow, he would tell him that he still loved him - the guilty feeling that he didn't say it back yesterday was still deep in his guts. He didn't want to break things off, but they should be more careful. Erik would understand, wouldn't he?

 **Erik**

When Erik read Charles' text a lot of thoughts went through his mind. The message was short and direct, none of what they used to text each other before.

He thought of a lot of possible outcomes for their talk, and the one he settled with at the end is that Charles wanted to break things of.

Understandable, really. No person could endure their daughter spotting him cheating and still want to continue the affair, no matter how invested the person was.

Erik knew Charles loved him, of that he had never doubted, but it was a fact looming over their heads that eventually they would have to go all in or all out in their relationship. This was it, then. All out.

He considered texting the other man back, but no answer sounded good enough, it was all stiff and carefully constructed, Erik knew how much a standard message from a lover made you feel like shit. Then again, not getting an answer at all was just as bad. He didn't get much choice in the matter and ended up not answering, afraid of his own words.

Then, because he liked torturing himself, he went online and looked for the meaning of the last flowers Charles had given him.

It made his heart warm when he read that the jasmine meant love, beauty and sensuality. The morning glory meant restricted love, and Erik's heart literally ached reading about it. And at last, the orange roses meant enthusiasm and passion.

Erik was aching all over after he finished his research, that at the end he didn't resist texting Charles back after all.

 **[You]**

 **I'll be there**

And he would. He would always be there if Charles asked. The revelation startled him, but he should've known if how much he loved Charles was anything to go by.

He called his work afterwards, asking to get the morning off, which his boss allowed with a grumpy tone of voice, saying Erik would have to pay for the hours with either work, or his payment.

When he went to bed, he had his back turned to Magda who didn't ask what was wrong. They had drifted even more apart and in that second, Erik didn't care. He fell asleep shortly after that, but was woken up in the middle of the night by his own worries, not being able to sleep again and getting himself dark circles underneath his eyes.

 **Charles**

The guilt wouldn't leave Charles; even the next morning he tried to be the perfect husband he had failed to be those past years. He woke up earlier and made pancakes for his family, before going into David's room to wake his son up.

"Morning, monkey", he said and kissed David's forehead. "Time to get ready. I made pancakes."  
"Oh yeees", his son exclaimed and jumped out of the bed to run into the kitchen. Sometimes Charles wished, he would still have the energy to be that happy in the morning. Something was telling him that he _could_ be that happy in the morning if he was with Erik.

He went on waking Hannah as well, the toddler had already forgot about the incident from yesterday, much to Charles' pleasure. Then he walked into his and Moira's bedroom, going to the side of his wife and kissing her awake. It felt strange to do so after such a long time and somehow, it felt like he was cheating on Erik.

"Good morning, love. I made breakfast", he whispered against her lips and watched as they curled into a happy smile.

"Morning", she murmured and pulled him into another kiss.

The moment he left home for work, his thoughts concentrated on Erik. He had gotten his text from yesterday and hoped the other man didn't get his message in a wrong way. Charles couldn't break things off now. Not now. Not, when they just confessed their feelings for each other. No.

He opened the shop and set the flowers outside for the first ten minutes. Not knowing when exactly Erik would arrive, Charles started making bouquets for the day.

It didn't take long for bronze hair and tall figure to arrive. He looked bad - dark circles and no smile on the lips, the dark shadow of his stubble not looking pleasant as well. Charles' heart immediately sunk and he hurried to walk towards Erik.  
"Hey, darling", he said and wrapped his hands around Erik's waist, pulling him close. "Did you have a bad night?"

"Can we please hurry things and not stretch the inevitable?", Erik almost begged, pushing Charles away and looking at him with sad eyes.

"What? I don't want to break things off, Erik", Charles cleared and took the other's hands.

 **Erik**

Erik's eyes immediately snapped up when he heard the words. His eyes were full of sadness, vulnerability and the inevitable hope that flared inside his chest. Charles was staring at him with intensity, his thumb making circles on Erik's hand, eyes warm and gentle.

"You… you don't?", he asked in a whisper, too scared to dare and believe that. He had been keeping his cool, knowing there was no other outcome, but just hearing the exact opposite drove him on edge, like he could cry and then sleep for days.

"Of course not, you silly man", Charles said softly and Erik practically jumped on him, like he had been thirsty for days and Charles was the only thing that would satisfy him.

He pulled the other man in the tightest hug, almost trying to make them merge together, become one right there.

Erik started placing kisses on Charles' neck, his head, his face, whispering in between them "I love you", with a broken voice and feeling the other man's fingers digging on his arms as he said the words back "I love you too, Erik. _God_ , I love you".

Erik finally managed to calm down, and rested his forehead on Charles' shoulder, the shorter man's arms coming to rest around his body.

"Why would you even think that?", he asked and Erik just shut his eyes close, shaking his head. No need to talk about that, it didn't matter anymore.

"I'm sorry if I was a bit-", Charles started but Erik cut him off "No. You were not, you were perfect, I wouldn't have reacted any other way. But Charles, we need to be more careful", he said and Charles practically melted on the hug now, like he had been waiting to say something and the weight had been just lifted from his shoulders.

"I know, darling. I was going to tell you the same" - "I'm sorry I made a mess" - "You're being particularly stupid today, Erik", Charles said in a loving tune and Erik even managed a chuckle "And yet, you still love me" - "I do".

 **Charles**

The following week was difficult. Erik and Charles barely had time to meet up, because they realised they couldn't meet at their houses anymore. Therefore the only time they could see each other was work, but Erik was already being told off by his boss for skipping too much of it. They ended up only meeting twice that week for a brief hour. It was just enough time for a quick blowjob round on the first and a rushed fuck for the second day. Those times still left Erik and Charles at ease, just by seeing one another for a short while.

It was Saturday again and Charles texted Erik, while the kids watched TV. Moira had said something about going on a quick shopping trip and then suggested to bake some cookies later. The kids cheered at that and so she went out, leaving Charles to watch the children.

He had tried to be nicer to Moira as well, not wanting to cause any suspicion from her. Every day he woke her up with a small kiss and made breakfast. Every night he would pull her into his arms and kiss the top of her head. It made him realise, how much he loved his wife. Yet, he loved Erik the same and one night, he had been thinking of how long he could go on like that.

Would Erik want him to break things off with Moira one day? Would he ask him to choose? Would Moira eventually find out?  
Erik had told him that he was free today, Magda was out with Nina until the late evening, but Charles had told him, he couldn't go. The plans with Moira and his family were set before and he couldn't just tell them, he had other plans. His heart still ached to see Erik again. But they had all the time of the world to be together. That's what Charles truly believed.

 **Erik**

Erik was sitting on his bed, his back leaning against the headboard as he texted with Charles.

It was not nearly enough to ease the yearning in his heart, to make him miss the other man less, but they were doing their best to be careful now.

Magda and Nina were out for a girl's day and that meant Erik was completely alone. He was starting to get a little more of that sinking feeling on the pit of his stomach now that he and Charles didn't have much time together. The loneliness was crawling back underneath his skin and he was trying to keep it down by getting closer to his wife again.

He and Magda were on good terms now, hugging each other, holding hands, kissing softly. The best moments were when they just sat together and watched a movie cuddled together on their small couch.

Erik didn't want to have sex with her though, because it oddly felt like he was cheating on Charles, and he knew he would never be able to do that. In normal circumstances he would never hurt the other man that way.

It pained him that he would do that to his wife but not his lover, but there wasn't much Erik could do to change his heart. ' _It is what it is'_ he thought.

Being closer to Magda wasn't helping too much on the 'feeling lonely' thing, because he only longed for Charles, but it was better than nothing.

 **[You]**

 **When can we hang out?**

He texted biting his bottom lip and feeling clingy. He had earned that though, Charles knew how much Erik cared for him.

 **Moira**

Moira was nervously going through clothing stores and trying to find the perfect item, the right one.

She had been feeling extraordinary on the past week, getting attention from Charles again, being woken up by his sweet kisses, eating breakfast made by him and sleeping curled up on his side. It was almost like things were back to normal and she wasn't so scared.

It had been almost two weeks now since she had found out and guilt was eating her alive. She had been so scared to tell her husband about it, not wanting to lose him the way things were going. But now, now Charles seemed all in again, he seemed back to his old self and on board.

She knew she couldn't postpone the news any longer, and she had thought a lot how to break it to Charles. Now, walking down rows and rows of baby clothes, she was trying to find something sweet to use to break the news and soften her husband's heart.

She was scared to death to tell him she was two months pregnant now. At first she thought Charles would be furious finding out that she had stopped taking the pills without telling him. She still thought he would, but now she was sure he would find it in him to forgive her.

Moira was finally allowing herself to feel excited about the news. A new baby! Just like she wanted. Her dream of a big family was coming true, and she knew Charles would come through. He always did.

She picked a cute pair of white socks, that could either go for a girl or a boy, and immediately fell in love with it, going to the counter and paying for the item, before driving home with sweaty palms but a giddy feeling on her stomach.


	12. Chapter 12

**Charles**

Charles was about to text Erik back, when he heard the front door opening and closing. His two kids sprung up from the couch and paced down the corridor to greet their mother. Charles followed then in a slower pace, putting his phone back for now.

"Hey, hun", Moira greeted him after saying hello to Hannah and David. She walked up to him and pressed her lips on his, pretending that everything was alright. But ten years of marriage taught Charles how to read Moira and he knew something was off. She seemed nervous and somehow excited as well.

Charles raised an eyebrow at her, silently telling her that he knew something was up.

"Can I speak to you in the bedroom, please?", she asked, not even trying to avoid the topic. Charles thought, her mood was way too good for her to expect something.

"Sure", he said and they sent their children back in front of the TV, before walking into their own private place.

Charles watched as Moira started fumbling with her shirt, avoiding his gaze.

"Speak, Moira", he demanded and came closer to her. She looked up and took one deep breath, squeezing Charles' hands. It should have warned him, somehow prepared him for what was ahead, but he had no clue. And suddenly the world came crashing down on him.

Moira put two baby socks into his hand, holding her belly with the other, while smiling weakly at him.

"Surprise?", she said, but Charles barely understood her from the loud ringing in his ears. He felt dizzy and needed to sit down, but at the same time, his legs wouldn't move a muscle.

"How… how is this possible?", he asked, astonished that he was able to form words after all.

"Don't freak out, okay? I- … I'm just- … I stopped taking the pill", she said and Charles saw red.

"You did what!? _Why_ would you do that!?", he screamed at her. At this moment, he didn't care if their kids heard them or their neighbours or the whole fucking world.

"Because I wanted another baby! And you just need a little push somet-", she rushed to explain, but Charles cut her off.

"Because _you_ wanted another baby?! What about me?! I _clearly_ told you I don't want another bloody child!", he growled angrily at her, stepping several meters away from his wife. Right now, he didn't know of what he was able to do, but he didn't want to hurt Moira. Ever.

"But you will want it soon", she tried to argue. "Because you gave me no bloody choice! Fuck Moira! What the hell is wrong with you!? I told you what I wanted and you just ignored me!"

She was crying now, but that left him cold. He needed to get out of there now, needed to blow off the steam.

His legs started moving and he walked out of the bedroom, towards the front door.

"Where are you going?", Moira asked, crying and sobbing behind him. When Charles turned his head to look at her once again, he saw his children peeking from the living room.

"Out", he said coldly and left the house. He got his phone out of the his pocket and quickly answered Erik's text.

 **[You]**

 **Now.**

If Moira had no problem taking whatever she wanted, without giving a rat's ass about Charles, he could do that too.

 **Erik**

Erik grinned widely at Charles' text and didn't even ask if something had happened, why Charles was coming by when he said he had plans with his family. It didn't matter as long as they got to see each other.

When the doorbell finally rang, he had managed to make himself look presentable and almost ran towards it to open and see Charles.

The other man's expression was a mix of happiness upon seeing Erik, but it also had a lot of anger, despair and fear underneath his strained smile.

"What happened?", Erik asked filled with worry but Charles just shook his head "I'll tell you later", and rushed to get inside the house, snapping the door shut behind him and latching onto Erik, their lips pressing together and teeth crashing painfully.

"Promise?", he asked, wanting to be able to help "Yes, right now... ", Charles trailed off, placing fervent kisses on Erik's neck "I wanna fuck you", he breathed and grinded their hips together, his erection brushing against Erik's half hard cock.

They stumbled together towards the guest bedroom and undressed each other, before Erik lied down completely naked his ass facing up and Charles fucked him almost through the mattress, pounding mercilessly and harshly.

Erik moaned loudly, enjoying every second and asking for "Harder… faster, _please_ , fuck me Charles", between his cries. His cock was sliding against the sheets and Erik was getting off from that, his own orgasm building up fast inside his body, loving every moment of that rough fuck.

It felt like it was something Charles needed, and Erik wanted it so bad. It got him turned on to know he could be that person for Charles, that he could take anything and enjoy it thoroughly.

When Charles came inside of him, Erik's ass felt raw and his entire body ached from getting those hard thrusts.

"Shit", he managed to say when Charles pulled out of him and Erik turned around on the sticky sheets to face the other man.

Charles lay next to him, all his anger and exasperation had left his body now, and Erik was caressing the other man's long, soft, sweaty hair and kissing his forehead every now and then, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Tell me what happened, my love", he asked again, tightening his grip around his lover.

 **Charles**

All the thoughts came crashing down on him again and Charles closed his eyes in despair.

He did not want to think about it, did not want to deal with it at all. Another baby meant that they wouldn't be able to move for another three years. It meant no sleep for weeks again, it meant less money in general. It meant two of their children had to share a room, it meant so much more.

Why would Moira ever do that to him? Why would she do that behind his back and dared to just show him those damn socks, thinking he would be happy to hear the news. He wasn't.

He turned in Erik's embrace to face him entirely and then he let his heart speak.

"Let's run away." - "What?", Erik asked as if he didn't understand. But he did and Charles needed him to say yes.

"You understood me, Erik", he said. "I did, but I don't get where you're coming from. Something is clearly upsetting you, so tell me please", Erik begged, sitting up. Charles sat up too, the bedsheets pooling around their lower bodies.

Charles bit down on his lip before saying "Moira is pregnant. She stopped her pill, even though she knew that I didn't want another baby."

Charles was afraid of Erik's reaction, not knowing how the other man took the news. He quickly grabbed Erik's hand and squeezed it slightly.

 **Erik**

"Oh", was all Erik could say, and he looked away from Charles so he could think clearly.

A baby changed everything. And if Charles didn't want one, his wife should have respected it because babies were too much of a responsibility. Children rely on their parents for at least 18 years of their lives, if not more. The other man was in for another long ride. His dreams of moving to the suburban would have to be pushed aside for years now.

"That's fucked up", Erik finally managed to say, his hand intertwining with Charles'. The other man snorted and squeezed his hand even tighter.

Erik had to be very careful with his next words. He wanted to be with Charles more than anything, and he would be lying if he said the offer of running away hadn't tempted him so very much. But Charles was angry now. Sad, frustrated, disappointed. Those were hardly the right sentiments to get such decision made.

"Charles, please understand what I'm going to say-" - "I think you just said enough", Charles said, his hand sneaking away, making Erik miss it instantly.

When he looked at the other man, those blue eyes looked huge and scared, so Erik leaned forward and catched his lips in a fierce kiss, that was just lips pressed together strongly.

"I want to runaway with you", he whispered against the red mouth, his breath hitting it and making Charles' eyes flutter shut "We can go anywhere. Even Italy, remember we wanted to go there?", Charles nodded weakly.

"But love, we can't do this now. You're not making this decision with a clear mind. You need to go back home and talk to your wife, Charles" - "I don't feel like it", he said raising his chin and pecking Erik on the lips.

"But you have to. And after, if you still want to go, we're going. I won't ever look back, I'll follow you anywhere, _liebling'_ , he breathed and his hands started caressing Charles' face reverently, tracing every freckle.

 **Charles**

Charles mind was running fast and he tried to understand what Erik was saying. He wanted to run off with him, he wanted to start a new life with him. And all he wanted, was for Charles to speak to Moira one more time. Well, he could arrange that.

"If you want that I talk to Moira, I will. I will now", he said determined. Charles got up from the bed, putting his clothes back on. He didn't bother checking himself in the mirror, before leaving Erik's house. He knew, he must have smelled and looked like sex - hair messy, skin glowing and he was sure, he had some handprints on his hips.

When he arrived home everything was quiet, so he guessed his kids were already in bed. His head was just buzzing around the idea of running off with Erik, so he walked straight to the bedroom to talk to Moira.

She was there, red and puffy eyes, her arms wrapped around her legs. Moira immediately looked up, when she saw him with lots of hope in her eyes.

"You came back", she whispered and Charles got closer to the bed. Her eyes flew over him and her expression changed.

"Where have you been?", her voice was trembling. "Doesn't matter. None of your business. Speak", he demanded, but her eyes stared coldly at him.

 **Moira**

"Of course it's my business, Charles! It's my business when _my_ husband comes home looking like he was fucking some whore", she yelled and got up from the bed, not wanting to be on a vulnerable position.

Fuck, Charles cheated on her. That was the only explanation for the way he was looking right now, she would know when her own husband looked like he had a good fuck.

She was so angry right now, that she could barely contain the words in her mouth anymore. "Was it worth it? Sticking it to someone just to get back at me?".

Had Charles just done it now to get back at her or was he cheating for a long time?

"Don't be daft, Moira", he said in a tone she didn't recognize and it made her heart bleed.

"Don't talk to me like that", she warned and Charles sighed, putting his hands on his pockets "I'm here to give you a chance to explain yourself, Moira. Don't waste it" - "How long have you been cheating on me?", she asked instead of saying anything else and Charles' eyes were still cold. He wasn't giving her any sort of information, he just looked dull.

"Fine, if you're not saying anything, I'm going", he informed her and walked towards his wardrobe, pulling a few items of clothes and starting to shove them on the backpack he kept on the back of it.

"What are you doing?", she asked walking towards her and holding his hands "Stop! Charles, stop! Let's talk, I'll talk", Moira almost started begging, but her pride wouldn't let her. The tears were running down her face, and she just couldn't believe Charles would be capable of leaving her with three children. Where was the man she once knew?

"I'm sorry", she started honestly "I know I shouldn't have stopped with the pills without telling you I just thought-" - "You thought you knew better", he said with anger on his voice, and Moira would have backed down if it wasn't for her line of work.

"I thought you'd be happy once it happened" - "Clearly you were wrong" - "That's why I've been scared to tell you, I didn't want you to react this way", her words were said in a soft tone, broken even, silently pleading him to understand.

But the words that came out of her mouth only seemed to make it worse, when Charles yanked his hand away and went back to shoving stuff on his backpack.

"How long have you known?", he asked sounding furious "Uh, over two weeks now", she said deciding to go with the truth again. That piece of information seemed to anger him even more.

"I was scared, Charles. And things hadn't been the best with us lately, so I thought you'd leave me if I told you earlier. And lately you've been so good to me, the husband I always knew", she practically purred the words, but Charles was just shaking his head, and something inside her clicked.

The way Charles had been acting earlier. He _had_ been cheating on her, hadn't he?

"I can't believe this", she snapped getting away from her husband "You were with someone else all that time! That's why you were acting like that. Are you going to see her now? Fuck you, Charles. You could have gotten me a disease sleeping around with _sluts",_ she almost spat the word and the way Charles looked at her, made something inside her body break.

"Shut the fuck up, Moira", he said and zipped his backpack "You don't know what you're talking about! The only reason I've been far from you, it's yourself, don't try blaming me or someone else! I was never aware you were able to do something like this, but I think deep down I just knew it", Charles was walking towards the door of the room and Moira felt herself crumbling down.

"Charles, _please,_ stay. We can figure this out" - "I'm not staying near you" - "When are you coming back?" - "I don't know", he answered and got out of the room. A minute later she heard the front door being closed rather loudly, and her body sank down to the ground, tears falling from her eyes and burning her skin like lava.

 **Charles**

Charles' heart ached when he walked through the door, but the longing was so much worse. He yearned for Erik and a new life with him. In his pocket he found his phone and quickly got it out to write a text to the other man.

 **[You]**

 **Let's do this. I'll be there in 10.**

The answer didn't take long and made Charles smile.

 **[Erik]**

 **You know I'm always with you.**

12 Minutes later he was at the door and rang the bell. Erik opened a few moments afterwards, a backpack on his shoulders and a small bag in his hand.

"Ready?", Charles asked and couldn't help but smile. This right there was his time to be happy. Finally he could start a new life with someone who respected him - loved him.

Erik smiled warmly at him and took his hand, their fingers intertwining easily. "Ready", he whispered and they both walked out of the door.

"I ordered a cab for us", Erik explained as a car pulled up the driveway. Charles nodded.

They stepped inside the cab and told the driver they want to go to the airport. The drive was silent, just a simple touch of hands and Erik's thumb drew circles on Charles' skin. He was getting giddy and excited. This was happening.

When they paid the driver and walked around the airport, they were still holding hands and just thinking that Charles had a lifetime ahead, in which he could finally hold Erik's hands publicly every day, made his skin itch.

"Italy, right?", he asked, a foolish smile on his lips.

 **Erik**

'Yes', Erik smiled openly and tugged at Charles' hand, pulling him close, their bodies flushed together.

They gazed at each other's eyes deeply, a silent conversation before they both leaned in and kissed soft and gentle, a promise of forever in front of them. The other's around them barely noticed the kiss, rushing through the airport and going on with their lives, but Charles and Erik took their time, cherishing the moment and savouring it. This, in Erik's opinion was their best kiss. It tasted like love and freedom.

When they parted, he caressed Charles' face and couldn't help the silly smile on his lips. God, there was little he wouldn't do for that man.

Charles pulled away from him and started walking towards the counter to see the fly tickets they had.

Between the two of them, they should have enough money saved for the trip, and then maybe even to buy a house in the suburban. Erik had some money saved and he would help as well. After they were settled, he would start saving cash again to pay for Nina's college.

He froze on the spot, watching Charles going to stand on the line and thought a small ' _Fuck'._ He wasn't leaving only Magda to runaway with Charles. He was leaving Nina, his little girl, his princess. Could he do that to her?

But he wasn't leaving her. He was going on a trip with the love of his life, his soulmate, and when they were back he would get a proper divorce and his right to see Nina and be with her as well.

Yes, he would still see his daughter and care for her. Nina was obviously more important to Erik than anyone else, but he couldn't condemn himself to a life of misery because of her. He could have them both.

Running away without saying anything wasn't probably the best way to achieve that, but that was what Charles needed. And he wanted Erik to go with, to have a life with him. The prospect of their future opening up on front of him was enough to make Erik smile again and he thought ' _We're doing this'_ , feeling excited but so very scared.

His heart was conflicted between loving this and not wanting to abandon Nina. He wasn't this kind of father, was he?

Erik watched as Charles talked to the woman behind the counter, and when the other man turned towards Erik he thought he was going to be called to help pick the ticket, but Charles' expression was a scared one, his face looking white and he pushed his body away from the counter walking closer to Erik with uncertain steps.

 **Charles**

His thoughts were running wild in his head. While Charles had been looking for his purse to give the lady his ID, he felt something in his pocket and it made his heart ache in misery.

A sock. A tiny white sock in his pocket. Fuck. Was he really about to leave his family? His children?

"Erik, we need to talk", he said surprisingly calm and walked towards a less crowded area. Erik followed him without saying anything and they settled down on a bench.

"What is it, love?", Erik asked, taking Charles' hands which only made his heart bleed even more.

He took out the sock from his pocket and put it into Erik's palm. The other man looked questioningly at him and then his hand. Something ghosted around his face and when he looked up again, Charles knew that Erik got it.

"What are we doing here, Erik?", he asked with incredible sad eyes.

Erik nodded and looked down again, tears shimmering in his eyes. Charles reached out and brushed one away that was already running down his cheek.

"We're not leaving them, you know? We could come back one day and.. and", Erik tried, but he knew he was lying to himself.

Charles nodded. "I know, I know we would. But are you willing to leave Nina for a long time? Letting her down like this?", he asked and Erik shook his head.

"I love you, Erik. God, I love you so much", he said, cupping Erik's face. "But this has to end."

Those words had hurt him more than any physical pain could ever do. He felt hollow and broken, tears starting to fall down his cheeks.

 **Erik**

'No', Erik said feeling weak. His hands were shaking awfully and tears were dripping out of his eyes 'I don't know if I can let go of you, Charles'.

'We have to', he said and both his hands flew up to cup Erik's face, he used his thumbs to dry a few tears and whispered 'Look at me, darling', making Erik's eyes snap up and lock with his, blue and grey mixing one more time.

God, Erik couldn't go on without seeing those blue eyes, that calm ocean that had the power to convince him of anything, everything. A lifetime without it seemed impossible.

'I love you so much', Erik said, his voice sounding choked, the words burning his throat. Charles leaned closer and kissed Erik on the lips, their tears mingling, making it taste salty but bitter at the same time. This couldn't be it.

'You know I'm right', Charles said sounding broken and Erik nodded, angry sobs making his whole body tremble.

'We can't see each other again', Erik said and felt like he had just been shot in the heart, Charles' whimpers making him ache all over.

'I want you to be happy, please be happy, love', Erik asked, his hands that were clutched to Charles' shirt sneaking up to feel the long, soft hair again, trying to memorize how it felt when he ran his fingers through it.

Then he trailed down, and touched the rough beard that had burned Erik's mouth so many times. He ran his thumb on Charles' lower lip, thinking he would never see such shade of red again, never kiss or taste.

His heart had never hurt this much. Erik leaned closer and rested his forehead against Charles' not knowing what to do anymore. His legs weren't working, he couldn't move, couldn't walk away.

'I love you', he whispered again 'I always will love you, Charles'.

 **Charles**

People were passing them by, staring at them but not commenting. They were probably thinking they wouldn't see each other for a long time, but that was wrong. This was forever.

"I'll always love you too. Do you hear me? Always", Charles said in a broken voice. When did he fell so deeply for this man? Erik just snug up on him and now he wasn't able to let go of the other man. This beautiful, kind man.

Charles didn't know who started moving first, but suddenly both just stood up and packed their things in stoic movements. He felt numb inside, working like a machine.

All around them, people were finding back their loved ones, kissing, hugging. Charles wanted to vomit, but when he choked, nothing came out.

They walked to the cab stand in silence, either not knowing what to say. Words seemed too little to explain what they were feeling right now.

Charles opened the door for his cab and turned to face Erik then.

"Have a good life, Erik. I know you will. You are a good man and your family is worth it, believe me", he said, his voice surprisingly steady. Tears were still shining in his eyes, but he blinked them away.

"You too. Can we.. can-", Erik stuttered and Charles knew exactly what he wanted. He pulled Erik closer by his neck and pressed their lips together in one final kiss. It was just their lips brushing against each other, glueing together as if they belonged there.

When Charles parted, he didn't look at Erik again, knowing he would have stayed with him. He settled inside the cab instead and only looked out of the window, when the door was closed and his seat belt on.

Erik stood there, looking like a lost puppy, but Charles just said his address and watched the other's tall figure slowly shrinking the further he drove away from him.

 **Erik**

Erik stayed at the cab stand for as long as he could, watching Charles' taxi driving away. When it was out of view, he felt like his knees were about to give in so he found himself a car as well, and sat down.

When asked the address he didn't give his own, not wanting to go back home at that moment. He needed to think, needed time for himself.

Instead, he asked the driver to take him to a park near his house, and he sat on a bench there for the rest of the day. There were no tears coming out of his eyes anymore, he just felt dull and numb inside.

His heart and head were trying to wrap themselves around the fact he would never see Charles Xavier again. Never get to touch him, kiss him, smell him.

And then he started to think of just how much he had fucked up his marriage. How wrong he had been to cheat on Magda, even though he was sure what he felt for Charles was much stronger than what he had ever felt for her. He did love Magda though, and she was an amazing wife, a perfect mother. She tried everyday and Erik had been nothing but an ass.

He had no time to mourn the loss of his love, to walk around in sweatpants and mope for weeks until his heart stopped aching so badly. He was a grown man with a family, and he had to act as such.

Erik needed to fix the mess he had made with Magda, needed to love her and pay for his mistakes. He didn't know if he could tell her what he had done, but he would try to apologise silently for the rest of his life, he could do that. She was his wife, after all and he loved her dearly. He just couldn't be here anymore. He couldn't be this close to Charles, knowing where he lived, where he worked, without giving in to temptation and checking up on the other man. He would never move on this way.

He got up, putting his backpack over his shoulder, but somehow along the path to his house, he started crying again. It all just hurt too much and he wished he could take a minute to feel that, to heal before he had to be a husband again, a father.

When he got home, Magda wasn't there yet, which was good because he could unpack and pretend nothing had ever happened. The first shirt on his backpack though, was Charles' from the day he had taken a shower with Erik, and his heart bled, pain set on his stomach and he had to fight the urge to curl up in bed for the rest of his life.

After shoving the shirt as deep as he could on his wardrobe, he unpacked the rest easily, and his family came home five minutes later.

Erik greeted them with hugs, and was surprisingly calm upon seeing them both. He had done the right thing, it was the smart decision and he knew he could be happy with his family.

Later, after putting Nina down to sleep he pulled Magda in a hug while they were in bed, and kissed her cheek softly.

"What is it, honey?", she asked sensing something wasn't right and Erik sighed. "I'm sorry for the last two months, Magda, I've been a horrible husband".

Her eyes softened immediately and she answered "Yes you have", her hand holding Erik's and squeezing it lightly "Are you ready to start fixing it now?", she asked hopeful and Erik only nodded, not being able to answer without sounding like he was choking.

When the next words left his lips, he felt like throwing up "I want to move. Anywhere far from here, Magda. We can start all over, it will be better, I promise".

 **Magda**

Magda was surprised by Erik's suggestion, but if that was what her husband needed, then they could talk about it.

"What about Nina? She has friends here and her school. How far do you want to move?", she asked, biting her lips coyly. She didn't want to upset her husband again.

 **Charles**

As soon as Charles opened the front door, he heard his children scream "daddy!" and then they clung at his jeans, both with red and puffy eyes. A pang of guilt filled his guts, knowing that they probably cried because he left.

Moira joined them no minute later, looking terrible. Her eyes were red too, hair a mess and skin as pale as a ghost. Her eyes were wide open, as if she couldn't believe what she saw right in front of her eyes.

"Are you gonna leave us again, daddy?", David asked with huge, blue eyes. "Please don't leave", Hannah begged and Charles ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm not leaving, princess", he answered and looked up to meet his wife's eyes again. Her face was unreadable though, a mix of anger and hope.

"Unless you want me to?", Charles asked carefully and she huffed, walking into the bedroom. He sighed in frustration and followed her, promising his kids again that he wouldn't leave.

"Moira, talk to me", he said, when they were both alone. She stood at the other side of the room, arms crossed and not meeting his eyes. Charles knew, he'd done wrong, but he came back and he wanted to make things right. If Moira wouldn't forgive him now, he gave up Erik for nothing.

"Who was it?", she asked, her voice a mix of cold and nervous shaking. Charles sighed again.

"Does that really matter? Can't we-" - "Who was it", she asked again, her voice almost icy now.  
"Erik", he simply answered. Just saying his name out loud, gave him chills all over his body. He missed the other man, longed for him.

"Erik? Erik Lehnsherr? You did it with him all this time?", she asked, not believing what he just said. Charles nodded, knowing this conversation wasn't going well.

"Why?", she asked. "Are you gay now?" - "I'm not. I loved you as much as-", Charles answered, but cut himself off.

"So you love him. And where is he now? Why didn't you go with him?" - "Because I couldn't leave my family and I realised that now. We ended it." Moira huffed again, her legs suddenly shaking.

Charles walked towards her, but she backed away.  
"Please, Moira. I'm here now, I promise. I won't leave you", he said, coming closer.

Just when he stood right in front of her, she suddenly started breaking down, crying and screaming at him.

"You bastard! You fucking bastard!", she shouted, her fists hammering against his chest. Charles simply embraced her in his arms, putting his chin on her hair and making soothing noises. She eventually came down, just crying in his arms, feeling tiny and vulnerable.

"I love you, Moira", he said, "I want to be with you and David and Hannah. And if you don't take me back, I'll still care for all three of you."

And then he heard a small, tiny "I love you too" between all the sobs coming from his wife.

 **Erik**

It took Erik and Magda a week to decide they were actually moving away. Erik threw himself at it with a burning passion, using all his seconds thinking of the details they couldn't miss, and doing his best not to think of Charles.

Magda had been acceptive to his idea, but reluctant, so Erik had taken care of everything and presented to her all the possibilities. Nina was the biggest problem there, but moving to someplace quieter was a good thing for their little girl. Somewhere where all the neighbours knew and trusted each other, all kids went to the same school and they could have barbecues, pool parties and sleepovers. In summon, Erik was about to go and live Charles' dream and it pained him that the other man wasn't going to do so. It was good for their daughter though, so at the end, Magda had agreed to it.

They had just enough money, so the first thing they did was look for a house. They traveled by car on a saturday, - it was a three hours trip - and searched for somewhere it suited them. They found a small, charming house and Magda immediately fell in love with it. There was a garden in the front, and his wife chatted about what she wanted to plant there - It only served to make Erik think of Charles and his flower shop, but he knew one week was too soon to forget, he would get over it eventually.

Telling Nina about it was difficult. She didn't understand why they were moving and why she had to leave her school and friends, - she cried a lot saying she would miss David, and Erik had almost broken down once again, he didn't though.

Now, a month after Erik and Charles had broken up, the pain had subsided a little. His heart still longed and ached, the yearning was still as strong, but he had kept his mind too busy to even feel all of that. It had taken him a lot of effort to find a good job on the new town, to put Nina in the school in the middle of the year, and to pack all their things.

They would be moving on the next day, and Erik felt more nervous by the hour. He was starting to panic inwards about actually leaving, letting go of any chances of ever seeing Charles again, but it was the right thing to do. He didn't want to bump into the other man somewhere and not be able to even say 'hello' without falling to his knees and begging they could get back together.

He looked at his watch to check the time, and knew he had at least an hour before Magda came back after picking Nina up at school, - she was running a little late - so he decided to check on everything again and see if he wasn't leaving anything important behind. Charles' shirt was packed between Erik's turtlenecks, so he guessed everything he needed was already with him.

 **THE END**

A/N : So this was it! Sorry about the sad ending, it really breaks my heart and I was crying like a baby while writing and re-reading it! I hope you enjoyed it anyways and keep up with us because we'll be posting a new Cherik fanfiction soon!


End file.
